The Now and The Future
by FlitterbugAnimeFreak
Summary: Now that Link's quests are over, journeying through the Great Sea and the Ocean King's Ocean to save Tetra, he is ready to relax, well, for the most part. Now Link most go through many things until he and the pirates find the New Hyrule.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: This is my first story, so if anyone has suggestions or would like to point out any mistakes, I'll happily read your comments. I'll also put the full summary in the first chapter since it wouldn't fit the 255 character rule.

Rating: T

Warnings: Swearwords

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

* * *

**The Now and The Future**

**Summary**

After a long journey of traveling through the Great Sea and finally defeating Ganondorf, then starting a whole new journey across a unfamiliar world, facing many new dangers along with some old ones, to finally save Tetra and defeat yet another evil, Link had finally been able to relax a little. Once again back to his less than exciting quest to help Tetra find the land that would soon become the new Hyrule, Link has settled down into day-to-day routine on Tetra's ship. But when they come across a strange, large island, will this finally be the end to this quest? Or will they continue their search through the wide-open seas once again? And will Link and Tetra finally come to terms with their feelings for each other?

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Relaxation. Or not.**

Bright blond strands of hair blew softly with the breeze. The tip of a green hat flowed with them. A young boy dressed all in green owned the hair, as well as the hat. Said boy was currently standing on the upper-deck of a large ship. He stood by the railing, palms rested on the flat top of the rail. He looked outward, staring like he could see everything if he just watched the waves rolling in the distance long enough. In reality though, it was impossible to see past the vast seas.

The boy didn't move his gaze, even after long moments passed by, the green tunic he wore wafting to the side as the wind danced happily, twirling, churning, and swirling as it went. As mentioned before, the boy was clad in all green. He wore a pointy green hat. Along with the hat, he wore a green tunic with a brown belt strapped around his waist. The belt buckle was a simple circle; a line swirling inward was the design. He wore a long-sleeve shirt and white tights under his tunic. His feet were kept warm by a pair of brown boots. The most startling thing about his attire was the hylian shield and sheath bearing a sword strapped to his back. He couldn't have been older than thirteen, and he was already carrying weapons?

Well, the bigger shock was that he already knew how to use them, too. The look and air around this boy gave the impression of a hero, like some kind of fairytale. But maybe that was because he is one, and his name is-

"Link!" Link's pointy elf-like ears perked up slightly at the sound of his name being called, knowing who it was right away by the feminine, but strict, as well as loud, voice.

Tetra. She was, after all, the only girl on the ship. In fact, she was also the captain of this very ship. Link spun around quickly to face her, his hair flying around wildly from the sudden movement and the wind that had been caressing his face just seconds ago.

Tetra looked as she always did, long white shorts that were ripped at the bottom, a baggy blue tank top that was cut short to show her stomach, red clothe around her neck with her red vast the length of her tank top. Her hair was in its usually swirled up bun, bangs hanging down in her face, and a strip of wavy hair in front of her ears. Many thought she was beautiful, but Link felt that wasn't enough to describe what he thought of her.

Although most were turned off by her temper, Link admired her for it. He liked that she was strong, not just some damsel in distress. He had begun to think thoughts like these more and more lately. He was embarrassed with himself because of these thoughts, knowing he thought a little bit to good of his captain, but other than that, he had completely failed to notice how he was beginning to take a lot more of an interest in Tetra.

"Listen," Tetra had begun speaking again, her voice stern, "I told you to help Niko clean the bathroom."

"Ah, sorry, Miss. I guess I kind of spaced out." His voice was polite when addressing Tetra; she was his captain after all, although his attitude was mostly the same towards everyone and everything. Ganondorf was the only exception.

"It's fine. Just get down there before I get angry." Tetra said, totally blowing off the fact that he had forgotten her orders. _Her orders._

"Thanks, Te-er, Miss." Link bowed politely before heading to the door that led below deck. Tetra had always been hard on her crew, always yelling orders, and, well, just being a captain. Lately though, she had calmed down some, and she had really warmed up to Link after all he had went through to save her from the Ghost Ship. Which had brought on his strange quietness.

Link had always been quiet for the most part. But after his quest to save Tetra had ended, --And Tetra was still trying to convince the crew that they had been gone longer than ten minutes, and that it had been at least a good few weeks—He had become even quieter and distant. He would just stare off into space at the most random of times. Everyone gave him the space they knew he needed, knowing the adventures that he had gone through would change the way anyone was, and so they didn't blame him. And after some complaining, Tetra became used to him just going off into his own little world. She was also a lot easier on him. Link smiled at that last thought. He liked that Tetra was treating him more like a friend now, seeing as how in the beginning she had treated him like some pesky, annoying kid.

In the beginning of this new journey, he had left the island his was born on, Outset, again on the King of Red Lions, the boat he had used on his first quest. Except this time it may be a permanent separation. This thought had always made him sad because he might never see his Grandma and sister again. But he knew he had to do this and wasn't turning back now. Plus, his Grandma and sister knew about this possibility.

After Link had made his way through the door, he walked into the main room below-deck. Link knew his way around the ship now that he'd spent more time on it. It was basically just a small square room with a few doors. In the middle and dead in front of him was a staircase that led down to three doors, the one at the bottom of the stairs being the Training Room that he used routinely, not wanting to become out of shape from being so inactive. Then there was a hallway that split to the left and right. At the end of the left was the door to one of three sleeping quarters, or cabins, where crew members slept. On the right was the bathroom. And it was the only bathroom on the ship.

On the opposite wall from where he walked in was one single door. That was Tetra's room. He had never set foot into Tetra's room. Well, maybe once, but that was when he was still on his quest to save his sister and kill Ganondorf. Tetra and the crew had stopped at WindFall Island, and Link had searched Tetra's room to see if he could find clues to why they were there.

The walls to his sides had four doors, two on one side, and two on the other. On the left, was the kitchen and another cabin –the sleeping quarters--on the right was a room similar to a dining room and the other cabin.

Link headed down towards the bathroom, a grimace on his face. Seeing as how this was a pirate ship, mostly men, and only one bathroom didn't make cleaning it exactly pleasant. In fact, it was the complete opposite. And Link assumed this was the reason for walking into the bathroom only to find Niko walking slowly, guarded by the mop in his hands, towards the toilet. And Link didn't blame him because the toilet happened to be the most disgusting thing on this ship. And that was saying something.

He still couldn't believe that Tetra used this bathroom without a complaint, --or at least not many—but sometimes Link would wonder if she maybe had a hidden bathroom in her room. At times, Link found it hard to believe that she was actually a princess of a fallen kingdom, although sometimes he could see a sweet side of her. She had softened up a bit on the crew, but if you ever called her Princess or Zelda, she would have you walk the plank and swim with the fishes. There were some things she hadn't eased up on, like cleaning that damn bathroom for instance.

Link figured it was best to get it over with and grabbed a cloth, passing Niko on his way to the toilet.

"You might want to move 'cause this will get messy. I'll clean the toilet, you clean the tub, 'kay?" He pointed to a wooden ovalish-bowlish like structure that was the 'bathtub' as he turned his attention to the monstrosity that was the toilet.

"Oh! Thanks, Swabbie!" Niko said giddily, knowing he was safe from the toilet for now.

Link only nodded, "I'm going in."

* * *

The cot bounced noticeably as link flopped onto it with an exhausted sigh. He'd just finished cleaning the bathroom and mopping the deck with Niko, afterwards carrying some heavy crates down to the training room. They had just gotten a new load of supplies from the small island they had stopped at. It was the first island they had seen since their encounter with the ghost ship, approximately two weeks ago. This thought had him thinking about his adventures. He was sad that he would probably never have another one again; that's one of the reasons for him getting up early in the mornings to train, he was afraid he would let himself go if he didn't.

He sometimes wondered if he had a lot of muscle from all the exercise he got, but he never got around to actually look at his body for more than a second. There was something about looking at his naked body longer than he had to that always freaked him out. Now he took the time to move his sleeve all the way up to his shoulder, struggling a bit before moving it up. He stared at his forearm, then at his bicep. Yup, he definitely had more firm muscle on there than he did months ago, although he figured he could be a bit more muscular if he was older, with a grown body, seeing as how he was just barely in his teens now.

"Could ya stop admiring your body for more than five minutes to come help your crew-mates with their work?" Link's face turned many shades of red, each darker than the last, when he heard Tetra's joking tone and looking over to see her unconcerned face in the doorway, smirking in amusement. She didn't look unsettled in the slightest, counting out the barely noticeable light pink blush that dusted her tan cheeks. Yeah, this is a good example as to way he didn't sit around staring at himself.

Embarrassed and flustered, he stood quickly, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"Y-yes, Miss!" He scrambled past her out the door, getting far enough away to just miss her mumbling. "You can just call me Tetra." She grumbled, not enjoying his formality towards her.

He ran up to the deck, hurriedly opening the door and turned to face the other crew members, all of them being heard from below-deck. He was shocked at the sight; the crew was fighting and throwing whatever they could get their hands on. Mako was the only crew member that wasn't in on the fight, he just sat calmly on a crate reading his book, not even looking up as he ducked when an object threatened to take his head off, or at least knock him off the crate. Niko was about to be blasted off the ship by Gonzo, stuck and squirming inside a barrel.

'Ah, that brings back memories,' Link thought.

"Oi! Swabbie! Can you give me a hand?" Niko yelled. Link sighed as he stepped forward into the mess, dodging crew mates and airborne objects as he went. He was just finishing helping Niko from the barrel, and doing his best to fend off a pissed Gonzo, pissed and making a fuss over losing his human cannonball, when Tetra came out to find the mess that was her crew.

"How the hell did you fools get like this?" Her voice helped to quiet the commotion, or for a better choice of words, stopped all movement completely. The eerie quiet only lasted a second before she was screaming orders and profanities. "I left you all to deciding who did what work and come back to this? What the fuck? Well then, I'll decide now! Gonzo, Mako, and Senza, you'll work together to clean the deck! Niko, go bring whatever supplies you can salvage to the training room. Link, you help Niko! Nudge and Zuko! You both should go change the sheets on the cots and clean…" Her words faltered as she tried to think of more work to give them, "Well…Whatever you think needs to be cleaned! Now get your ass moving!"

Everyone knew Tetra's yelling and ranting was over because she had turned to head to her quarters. Or, at least for now. The crew was still cringing from Tetra's anger, even Link, who felt more guilt than fear. Even though he knew he had done nothing wrong. He began to help Niko carry some small crates and other things down to the training room little by little. The training room had two levels, the lower and top. The top wasn't much, only a strip of the front room, a platform at the other side, and a room the platform led into. There was a gate that opened and closed by stepping on a large button –switch, depending on what you want to call it-- that connected to the floor to your right when you walk in. This gate let people in and kept people out of the small room beyond the platform. It was kind of like a door and was mostly meant to keep others out since that's where they put a lot of treasure and small supplies.

The lower level of the training room was filled with large and small crates, barrels, and other supplies scattered and stacked on top of each other. Rope Lamps hung from various places on the ceiling, dangling just in arms –Or jumps—reach over the stacked crates. All these things made it such a good place to train, and it even had a ladder nailed to the wall on the top level, just across from the door. This made it a lot easier to get up and down from the lower and top level.

* * *

Link looked up at the sky as he handed the last barrel into Niko's outstretched arms. It was around sunset and the sky was bright, like it was on fire with different shades of red and orange. The colors only reminded Link of a certain person's hair, a person he rather forget. He looked downward to stare at the water that shone orange from the sky's reflection. Ganondorf lay somewhere at the bottom of the great seas –most likely with or by the ruins of Hyrule castle—imprisoned in stone, Master Sword forever stuck in his skull.

All this had happened after Link had reflected the light arrow Zelda—Tetra—had shot towards him, running forward as the arrows light pierced and paralyzed Ganondorf for a short moment.

He remembered everything like it was yesterday, even though everything had gone so fast. He had run forward, preparing for a Parry attack. He remembered the way the flooding water had soaked his clothes even more than they already were when he rolled, and remembered that he couldn't have cared less at that moment. Everything except his focus on Ganondorf had blurred as he had jumped up, Ganondorf turning, to slow from the arrow to defend, as well as the confusion from Link's sudden move. He remembered the way it felt as he yelled out of hatred, anger, and determination; he forced his sword straight down into Ganondorf's head, piercing it through his skull up to the hilt. He had stood still on Ganondorf's stiff shoulders, hands still frozen on the hilt, but as Ganondorf spoke he had jumped down and away from him, holding his aching arm as he breathed heavily, never taking his eyes off of the evil man.

The fact that he had finally beaten the Evil King hadn't sunk in until he had watched the stone creep its way over the man's body. Then he knew he had finished his quest; a long quest that had utterly exhausted him, only fueled by his love for his people, his courage and bravery, and the exciting parts of an adventure to keep him moving forward. He had finally succeeded at doing what he had wanted to do since he first learned that that man was responsible for his sister's kidnapping; finally doing what the Master Sword had hummed with power to do. Kill Ganondorf. Both him, for the fist time ever, and the sword—because it was the ban of evil—wanted Ganondorf's blood. Just the memory of the man made him tense up, his blood starting to boil with rage.

It was almost dark now, the sky slowly turning navy blue. Link knew everyone would be starting their nightly routine soon, Tetra getting ready for bed, the crew drinking until they either passed out in the dining quarters, somewhere else, or just headed to bed. And he would go to the training room. Not that Link did nothing but train through the night, he hadn't lost the habit of taking baths every night—a habit that the rest of the crew should really pick up on-- from when he lived on Outset; although that had been nearly impossible on his quest. He would take advantage of the bathtub now that he could. And the fact that he was still human—Hylian if you wanted to get technical--, a growing human boy, and still needed sleep like everyone else.

Link smiled on his way to the training room, He didn't mind training, he actually enjoyed it, mostly because it reminded him of his adventures and the thrill he had when he would fight. Link made no use of the ladder; just jumping down was good enough for him. He twisted his body slightly mid-air, readying himself for the impact as he landed on his feet in a squatting position. He walked forward, taking off his sword and shield on his way over to a crate. Once he was done, he dropped to the ground in a push-up position. This was routine, normal exercises, practice jumps, rolls, and flips, and then finally practicing sword techniques. Link usually went through the basics, push-ups, sit-ups, and some stretches.

After he was done, he moved closer to a barrel that was left in a more open area. He had placed it there and knew it was empty. He began by locking on to the barrel, eyes focused, seeing nothing but that barrel in his vision. He had trained himself to do this quite well during his adventures, and it helped when fighting an enemy, so to only concentrate on one at a time. In the beginning, when he had left Outset to save Aryll, his sister, he found it took him an incredible amount of concentration to lock on to one enemy, making fighting that much more harder. It had become easier with practice and now he could do this with ease, he could even lock on to another enemy within two seconds of the last. But he had to admit it took him quite a long time and a lot of practice to be able to do that.

Now he was able to do this with ease as he concentrated on the enemy, the barrel.

First, he backed up some, running, then lunging forward into the air, and prepared to land on his feet as he sailed through the air, and as his feet hit the ground he brought his upper body down, head tucked in as he went into a roll and effectively hitting the barrel with his feet, causing it to tumble over. He had done this with such speed that you couldn't tell it was three different moves, just one huge one. His timing was perfect almost every time as he practiced this move multiple times, and then finally moving on to the next move. The next few moves were rather simple, rolling or jumping, or a combination of the two as Link moved to his left or right, practicing sideways jumps and rolling up close around the barrel to its back. The last thing he practiced was his back flips, an important move to use when dodging and avoiding attacks.

After all this, he deemed himself ready to move on to sword training. He wiped sweat away from his forehead with the back of his hand, panting as he did his best to even out his breathing. 'This is nothing,' he thought as he went to grab his sword, 'compared to real fighting.' Link continued his sword training for another hour, practicing all the sword techniques he had already learned. He grabbed his hat and shield before leaving, sword already safely sheathed and strapped to his back. He could tell it would be midnight in a few hours after he had peeked out side to the deck. He knew everyone one was asleep by now, seeing Gonzo and Niko passed out on the deck. He chuckled as he headed down to the bathroom. 'Better hope it doesn't rain,' he thought with amusement. The bathroom door didn't have a lock, so Link didn't bother even trying; he just shut the door and started stripping his clothes off, kicking them to the side of the cramped bathroom. He sat all his equipment on the small wooden counter next to the sink as he filled the bathtub with water. The water was cold, but it felt good against his heated skin as he stepped in. 'My tunic is in need of a good cleaning,' he thought as he relaxed in the tub. He would usually clean it before he took his bath, but he was so tired he decided to just do it tomorrow. He could wear his outfit Niko liked to call "Pirate Clothes". The whole crew had offered it as a welcoming gift as the new member of the crew while Tetra laughed in the background. He had politely refused, saying his was much more comfortable in his tunic. They had obviously forced him to keep the outfit.

'Speaking of outfits…I forgot to grab my pajamas,' Link slipped his head under the water, wetting his hair. After Link had stayed in long enough for him to get cleaned up, he drained the water and grabbed his white tights to slip them on. They felt slimy from sweat, and soaked from the water dripping down his legs and body. His tiny nose scrunched up in distaste, reaching into a small wall cabinet that held a few things, including rags to dry off with. He took a small one for his hair, shaking his head to rid it of any excess water before using the rag. After he was done, he let the rag hang loosely around his neck. Gathering his stuff into his arms before walking across the hall to get to his room, passing the training room on his way. He always kept his weapons, especially his sword, under his cot in case something were to happen. Now he put all his weapons in a large wooden box that lay under the cot. Everyone had a wooden box similar to a drawer under their cots for personal items.

Link didn't have much with him, just a pair of pajamas, his regular outfit he wore with his tunic, "Pirate Clothes", and a few things he had found along his quests. All his old weapons were kept in his magical pouch that he had always carried with him.

Link finished changing into his PJs, they were the same ones he had worn on Outset. He looked over to see that Senza was the only other person here since Niko had passed out on the deck. He smiled when he heard Senza snoring. Link had come to love the rest of the crew like family, some like brothers, some like fathers, and others like those crazy uncles that you claim to not want around but secretly love. Naturally he thought of Senza the same way as the rest of the crew. He let out one last whispered chuckle before turning to his cot. As he climbed into it, he wondered if they would ever find the new Hyrule.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Here's the second chapter of TNATF (The Now and The Future). As always, I'll happily fix any mistakes people point out in their reviews, and as long as your review is not something as simply written as "omg this sucks" then I'll appreciate any advice given. ^^

I also forgot to mention in the first chapter that as I'm writing my story, I tend to imagine the characters in more of an anime style, definitely a different and more detailed version of the toonish characters from the games. But feel free to imagine the characters however you like, it won't make much of a difference while reading, that's just how I imagine the characters. :)

Also, I was going to do the entire story in third-person, but I decided that I would

switch between third-person and first-person when I see it fit for that chapter. As for the point of view, I'll probably only stick to Link's, and maybe Tetra's.

As a few side notes, Ojii-san, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is Japanese for Grandpa. And no, he isn't going to somehow become Link's Grandfather, Link just likes to call him this.

Baka is also another Japanese word, it means stupid, or idiot.

If you want to get an idea of what Link's Pirate Clothes look like, check out Pirate Link from ~QueenMomi-chan on DA. His outfit is based mainly of this drawing because I had come across this drawing a while back and it really stuck with me.

Rating: T

Warnings: Swearwords and suggestive themes.

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

_Italics _Usuallydreams, visions, future events, or past events.

**Bold** Usually someone thinking during dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

Disclaimer: Guess I forgot to do this in the first chapter. Hehe. ^^' I own nothing except the idea to write this story and my words.

Well, here's the second chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

The Now and The Future

* * *

Chapter 2

Dreams and Play Fighting

* * *

___I leaned forward, staring at some huge...Thing. I don't know how to describe it. We weren't near water, and I could already tell it definitely wasn't a ship. It had about eight wheels, four lining each side, one large wheel towards the front, one smaller wheel at the end, and two tiny ones behind the first. It also seemed to have a tiny little house connected behind it, and it was mostly made of wood. _**You probably steer it with those controls at the front, **_I thought. The wooden front had rails on the side and it looked like someone was supposed to stand there while they steered whatever this thing was. I heard a long, low whistle and tried to turn around to see who had made the sudden noise. It was only seconds later that a realized two things. One, I was the one who made the noise. Two, it was obvious to me now that I had no control over my body._

_And then, without my permission to do so, I spoke, "This is pretty fancy. Took you long enough to make it, though." The voice that came out of my mouth sounded like my own, but there was a difference, it was deeper, and it sounded much older than my voice now. I had laughed, turning towards someone unfamiliar, but at the same time, I felt like I had known this person for ages. He _**did**_ remind me of Orca, the man from Outset that had given me my first real sword and taught me all the basics of swordplay. This man, he looked old, and he didn't look like Orca, but he had a certain air around him. It was like, when you looked at him, you knew he was strong, both physically and in spirit. The man gave me an annoyed look, 'hmpf'ing to show his irritation. _

_"You do realize how hard it is to create a fine train such as this. Especially considering my age. And now I'm even giving all my years of hard work to you. You're such an ungrateful child." The old man said as he looked away from me. _**So it's called a train? **_I thought that sounded weird, I had never heard of such a thing._

_"Awww, don't be like that Ojii-san, you know I'm really happy you're actually letting me keep this." I felt the muscles around my lips pull up into a warm smile. Walking over to 'Ojii-san', I gave him a one armed hug._

_"Gah, such a touchy-feely young boy." But despite his rude words, he patted my back with his hand before pulling out of my grasp. My smile didn't falter, and I spoke again while walking back to the front of the 'Train' to hope into the 'control area' as I had decided to call it as of now. I had caught my reflection in a window on my way. I was shocked to see that I didn't look like my normal thirteen-year-old self. I looked to be around the age of seventeen or eighteen. "I love my birthday present and all, I mean, what else could a twenty-year-old like myself wish for. But are you going to teach me how to use this before I try to teach myself and crash into the castle or some other similar scenario?" Ojii-san laughed, mocking me. So maybe my guess was a couple years of, but hey, you can't blame me, I look a lot younger than twenty in this dream._

_"Do you think the princess would let you get away with something like that? Considering they are just in the last steps of the building process." I had smirked, somehow knowing my next words were a joke, even though I knew no princess…Well, unless you counted Tetra._

_"Yup, of course I believe she would let me off easy. She likes me the best." You could tell that I truly didn't believe any words that I had spoken, and it had been meant as a joke. The old man laughed, shaking his head. "Well, let's get started." And before he could even start to tell me how to work the train, my vision became blurry._

My eyes opened slowly. I was staring at the wooden panels of the floor, half my body slung off the side of my cot. 'Oh. I guess it was just a dream…' I thought, 'A weird dream, but still a dream.' I could tell it was still early from Senza's light snores in the background. The crew didn't wake up until around eight, Tetra woke up around seven, and I woke up every morning from five to six. It just depended on how long I spent on my training the night before. I could tell I woke up a little later than usually, not by much, but closer to the time Tetra would be getting up.

I have always preferred to train when there is peace and quiet, which is rare on this ship during the day. That is the exact reason why I stay up the latest and wake up the earliest out of everyone on the ship. 'Guess I better get moving then.' I quietly set my foot on the floor, twisting to put the other down next to the first. I stood and tiptoed over to the wooden door. I cringed as the door creaked when I started to open it, turning around to look into the darkness. I saw a shadow that was the lump of Senza under the covers. The lump moved, but Senza's light snores could be heard. I continued on my way out the door, and when I had closed the door, successfully making it out without waking Senza, I finally realized I had yet to change out of my pajamas. I groaned inwardly.

* * *

Now I stood in the dark of my room, having just finished stumbling around as I tried to get dressed in the dark. Senza really was a deep sleeper. I probably looked ridiculous. I'd only wore my "Pirate Clothes" once, and I never actually left my room wearing it, so no one has seen me in the outfit. Personally, I think the outfit is unnecessary, mostly because I found it embarrassing to wear, and the thought of anyone seeing me in something as crazy as this freaks me out…But of course I thought of my Hero's tunic the same way when my Grandmother first gave it to me.

I knew sitting in that wooden box for months wouldn't change how the clothes looked. I wore a light green vest; the style similar to Tetra's, except it was longer and had no shirt under it. The white pants were ripped at the bottom to come below my knees. The boots were similar to my regular ones, and the same goes for my belt, except it was much looser. The last thing to top my outfit off was the brown fingerless gloves that were tied together by leather on both sides. I had put my hat on since the outfit didn't include any. I sighed. The outfit made me feel awkward, and I even thought about just walking around in my pajamas, but decided against it because I wasn't on Outset anymore, I was on a pirate ship. I did consider putting on my long sleeved shirt under the vest, but that would be a bad idea because my clothes really needed to be cleaned. My nose scrunched up at the thought of putting on my filth, sweaty shirt. I sighed in distaste while I looked down at my shadowed figure, the bright green vest standing out with its bright color.

I decided it was best to move on if I wanted time to train before the others woke up, and so I managed to make it out of the room a second time without waking Senza. I had decided to strap my sheathed sword around my waist, having left my shield under my cot. It fit the pirate look better anyway.

I completed the exercises I had done the night before, practiced the same moves as well, and then I grabbed my sword by hilt. My left hand rested on the hilt for only a short moment before quickly pulling it out in one fluid motion. I had decided the night before that I would try out a new sword technique that had been going around in my head, instead of practicing sword techniques I had long ago mastered. I had only begun to think over how I wanted this move to work out when a voice interrupted my thinking process.

"Oi! Why are you in here so early?" Of course Tetra wouldn't realize I got up to train every morning if I finished before she woke. I just happened to be up a little later than usual. I thought I should point this out, but decided to just go with a simple greeting and excuse.

"Good morning, Miss. I just came down to get some early training in." It wasn't a lie, so I'm sure she would be satisfied with my answer. By this time she had already jumped down to my level, and shaking her head, she took a few steps in my direction.

"Please, Link, I know you get up early to train in the mornings. It's kinda obvious. I was just surprised to see you training at this time." I averted my gaze out of embarrassment, mumbling an 'oh' as my reply. "Well, want to test all that training of yours? Besides, it will be more fun to train with someone else." She continued to speak as she moved to grab her sword from its sheath at her waist, "Unless you're afraid you'll lose." She gives me her infamous wink.

A very rarely seen smirk makes its way onto my lips. "I'll be happy to take you on," I lower myself into a fighting stance, hilt held between my hands, blade pointed at the ground, "Captain." I finish with sly and determined smile forming on my lips. Tetra smirks, swiftly unsheathing her sword to point at me. I prepare to bow respectfully like I had always done when practicing swordplay with Orca, but Tetra flicked her wrist casually.

"Forget the formalities, let us fight." I shot her a surprised look but obeyed, preparing myself before I made a move. She was fast though, and managed to make the first move, running and swinging her sword down at me. It caught me off guard, but I managed to block the attack with the flat of my blade, pushing to get her off balance. But she wasn't stupid, and she quickly jumped away in order to keep herself steady. I didn't worry about her getting hurt, I knew I could stop my sword in time, and I knew she could do the same. This time, I ran at her, spinning around to put force into my swing as my blade came down at an angle. She went down into a roll to avoid my blade, jumping up to my side as she made a vertical slash at my back, and I sideways jumped to dodge her sword. She swung again, a horizontal swing this time. I back flipped out of the way, but her blade managed to make a small tear in the fabric of my pants. She smirked, and I scowled. I jumped forward, attempting to use a jump attack on her, but she was fast to jump back and away from my blade. I frowned when the tip of my sword made contact with the wood of the floor, lodging itself into it. I should have seen that coming; after all, I had used this very trick to get a few hits in on monsters before. I would always use the time they wasted trying to remove their blade from the ground to my advantage, and that is exactly what Tetra had planned on doing. She proceeded to roll at me.

At first I thought she was going to do something similar to what I had done during my practice last night, kicking with her feet to take away my balance, I thought about moving out of the way, but she was fast, and I soon learned her intentions. Instead of kicking with her feet, she entangled my bent legs with her own as she successfully tripped me. My head and back slammed hard into the floor on contact, and I winced, not even noticing when my hat went flying off somewhere, then closing my eyes before snapping them open again as I felt a weight settle itself on me. Tetra had taken advantage of my position on the ground to straddle my hips, blade at me throat. Her hand that didn't hold the hilt of her sword lay pressed flat against the ground by my hand, keeping her upright as she stared down at me in a sly way. I blushed at our position. Did she not notice how wrong this looked?

"T-Tetra!" I managed to stutter out in a whisper. Locks of her golden hair that had fallen from the bun on her head tickled my cheek as she leaned in closer, careful not to cut my skin with her blade. Her thick hair was like a curtain, like it was meant to hide us behind it to keep prying eyes away—even if all those possible eyes were still shut in sleep right now—from us as she leaned in even closer than before, her face only centimeters from mine.

"Do I really have to put you in a position where your life is in my hands for you to actually call me by my name?" Her smirk hadn't faded, and she stared into my eyes as she spoke, her breath hitting my lips as she spoke. I shivered from delight and excitement the feeling caused.

Wait…delight? Excitement? I felt my face heat up to an unbearable amount.

Now this was just making me uncomfortable, I mean, this was my captain for crying out loud! I'm a part of her crew. Did she not even notice how awkward this position was?

She moved her hand to my chest unconsciously—or, at least I wouldn't think she did it on purpose—to steady herself better as she slid the blade of her curved sword until the tip lightly poked at my neck. She leaned down to put her lips at my right ear, whispering, "I think this means you lose." I gulped awkwardly and she started to pull up slowly. I could see the cocky smirk plastered to her face from the corner of my eye. It was then that I decided to make my move. My hand swung up to grab the hilt of her sword. My hand placed over hers, I quickly twisted her arm, sword along with it, behind her back, not enough to hurt her, but enough to catch her off guard. She gasped quietly from my sudden movement, and I took advantage of her distraction to slide out from under her. As she recovered on the ground, I grabbed the hilt of my sword. By now she was up on her feet, ready to gain control of the situation once more, but I was planning on finishing this. I pulled my sword from the floor with a hard tug. I moved and she came at me, I rolled, and she swung her sword out to the side, expecting I would try and pull what she had before.

Oh, but no, I had something different in mind. I had managed to successfully roll to her back. I jumped up from my roll, but instead of slashing at her back, I brought my sword up and over her shoulder, pressing the cold blade to her throat lightly. I pulled her closer to me, her back pressed firmly against my chest, and now it was my turn to whisper, "You sure about that, Captain?" I saw her jaw flex and knew she was grinding her teeth. Her face was a bright red, whether it be from embarrassment or anger, I did not know, but her face was so red I could almost feel the heat coming from her. Finally, after a long, silent moment, she sighed in defeat, and I retreated from my hold on her. Sheathing my sword at my hip, I saw her do the same.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" I asked worriedly, back to my less competitive self now that our swordfight was over.

"Pssh! I'm not that fragile. Besides, I had you for a moment there, too, you know." She finally looked up from the sword at her side.

"Yeah. Okay. We'll say it was a draw." My smile faded when I saw her eyes grow round, widening in shock at whatever she was looking at. Then I realized she was looking at my neck and looked down. Blood trickled down my chest from a long cut that started at the hollow of my neck and across my collarbone, going farther out towards my left shoulder. I could tell by just looking at it that it wasn't a deep cut, just long in width. I hadn't even realized it until now. It must have happened when I had moved her sword from my neck.

"Oh! Goddesses! Why are you asking if _I'm _hurt? Look at yourself. Why didn't you tell me I hurt you?" Her words were rushed, and I was surprised by how worried she sounded, by the concern in her voice. "Follow me." She said sternly. I knew that tone, and I knew to obey.

She led me out of the training room, and we started up the stairs. I wondered where she was taking me if we had already passed the bathroom. I had to stop when I realized we were headed for her bedroom. "U-uh, um, Miss, the c-crew isn't allowed in your bedroom." I stammered out.

"Baka. I'm _inviting_ you in. Don't make such a big deal about it." She sighed in annoyance and I decided it would be okay since she invited me. Her room hadn't changed at all since the last time I saw it, but, of course, I had snuck in that time. "Sit." Tetra ordered, pointing towards her large bed. I shuffled over to it and flopped down on the edge. As I relaxed on the soft fluffiness of her blankets, I watched her move around her room, opening small drawers and grabbing small items. When she came over to me, I saw the items in her hands. She placed them on the bed next to me, kneeling in front of me as she did so. She had grabbed a small, dark-stained glass bottle that held clear liquid inside, a small, white handkerchief, and a few small bandages to hold together and keep my thin cut clean. I watched her hands as she pulled the plug from the bottle, carefully pouring a small amount on the handkerchief, and then pushing the plug back in with a pop. She leaned forward slightly and started to dap the wet handkerchief along my cut. I winced and cringed slightly at the sudden sting that the liquid caused.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled to my surprise, "but I have to clean the cut first, this way it won't get infected."

"It's fine." I mumbled my reply. She continued to dap only my cut and I couldn't help but think it felt nice to have someone tending carefully to my wounds. Much different when you've had to tend to your wounds on your own for so long. It almost felt like…like the feeling of being loved. I shook my head slightly, receiving a weird glance from Tetra, but she decided to ignore my weirdness and continue to clean the cut. I knew she was only doing this out of concern for her crewmember, and the fact that she was partly responsible—Or, at least she thought she was—for the small injury. This thought didn't stop the heat from rising to my face. It was actually kind of nice, the thought of having someone to help and care for me when I'm hurt, and thinking that that person could be Tetra made it an even happier thought. Which just made me feel weird because, one, she was my captain and I shouldn't think things like that about her, and two, it was pretty much impossible for her to feel anything more than friendship towards me.

I decided I would try my best to keep my mind away from thoughts like these from now on, mostly because they made me feel strange.

Tetra finished cleaning the cut and started applying the bandages, being careful when touching near my cut. When she was done, she rested her hands on my chest before leaning back. "By the way, I forgot to tell you before, but you look good in your '_Pirate Clothes_'." She giggled, putting emphasis on "Pirate Clothes". I sighed in embarrassment, my face heating up so much, I thought someone could cook on it. "I mean it." She said, finally looking up with a smile, "It suits you, in an odd way." But then her smile slowly faded and her forehead creased in concern, "Your face is red. Maybe you have a fever. But I don't think your cut could get infected in such a short amount of time." She reached her small hand to my forehead, feeling for fever. She didn't look satisfied with her results, so she tried again, this time leaning her forehead on my own. Her left hand held my bangs up, while her right held her own, and the heat in my face increased as she pressed her forehead closer to mine, her face, once again, merely centimeters away.

I gulped lamely, trying to breath normally. Having her so close was making me nervous. She finally pulled away and I sighed in relief. "You definitely feel warm. Do you feel sick?" She asked, her frown deepening. I shook my head, not sure I could talk without stuttering. A simple 'hmm' was her reply as she stood, grabbing her stuff, and placed them on the desk across from her bed. While she was busy fixing her bun, I took a quick glance around the room, noticing that a picture of the old Hero was still on the wall that her bed was pushed against.

When I had first seen it, it had scared me when I realized it looked a lot similar to how I look now. I studied the picture a bit longer before turning back to look at Tetra. I was a bit startled when I realized that she had been watching me, but she shook her head and spoke, "That's one of the old sketches someone had done years ago of the hero known as the Hero of Time. Kinda looks like you, doesn't he?" She smirked at me, winking before continuing, "Anyway, we should get moving along with the day, since the rest of the crew should be getting up soon. I'll let you go rest if you'd like. You can get out of your chores for today so you can sleep, I don't want you running around with a fever. You really do push yourself to hard."

I shook my head, "I feel fine." And she frowned.

"I don't want you frolicking around on my ship getting all the other crewmembers sick." She said in a tight, stern voice. I guess that loving, concerned and caring side disappeared once she had finished cleaning me up. I smiled. That was fine, because I liked both sides of her. And I think, in a way, that this is just another one of her ways that she shows she cares.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." I stood, and as I closed the door to her room, I heard her sigh.

Senza was just getting up by the time I got to my room.

"'Morning." He spoke tiredly. I nodded back before flopping down on my cot. Senza headed for the door, probably going to the bathroom. He was the first one to get up after me and Tetra, mostly because he wanted to get to the bathroom first. He really did tend to spent a lot of time in there…But I definitely wasn't going to ask why. After him, the rest of the crew got up in random order.

I heard light footsteps outside my door and knew it was Tetra. She usually went out to the deck in the morning, just before the majority of the crew woke. I'd snuck up there to see what she was doing one time, but all she had been doing up there in the mornings were leaning over the edge of the ship, looking out at the water before her. I had decided to never bother her during this time, because to me, it seemed like it was a personal time for her.

However, I decided, as of now, to ignore that rule, or at least just this once. Because my long pointed ears just picked up a muffled scream, and I knew it was Tetra's. I jumped of my cot and out of my room so fast, lightning couldn't compare. I didn't worry about my weapons; I already had my sword at my side. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me up to the deck, and I didn't like what I saw when I slammed the door open.

A person—woman or man, I could not tell from the still dark morning—had Tetra restrained in their arms pulling to the edge of the ship, and when the figure saw me, he or she practically flung Tetra across the deck.

Now I could make out that it was a woman. She seemed to wear a clothe over the bottom half of her face, and her pants wear baggy. Her clothes were obviously a bright color, I think I could make out that all her clothes were red.

The woman reached down and in a flash, pulled out to large, long, curved swords. She held one higher up, the other lower to her waist level. It was probably her fighting stance, and she obviously wanted a fight.

Because her swords were pointing directly at me.

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Author's Notes: Mhuhahahaha. Cliffhanger. ;P

Hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I should post a new chapter every weekend, but if it takes any longer than that, it means one of two things (or maybe both). One, my life outside the computer has become hectic as always. Or two, I may have a serious case of Writer's Block, a writer's worst enemy. :_:


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** Here's the third chapter of TNATF. Thanks to the few people who took the time to review on my story so far, I really appreciate it. =D

Rating: T

Warnings: Swearwords and mild violence

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

_Italics _Dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

**Bold** Usually someone thinking during dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea to write this and my words.

* * *

**The Now and The Future**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Imprisoned**

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I didn't hesitate to grab my sword. The woman came at me with such speed that I barely had time to pull it out, but I did, and just in time too, or my head—And parts of me that I rather not mention, but feel are important—would have surely been cut off. I pushed her back with my sword, back-flipping out of her reach. I thought I should try to get over to Tetra, you know, to make sure she wasn't hurt. But I know Tetra wasn't some fragile little girl, she could take care of herself. It also helped to relieve my worry when I saw Tetra getting to her feet in my peripheral vision, and let me just say, she certainly looked pissed.

I kept my eyes on the women, but my attention was on Tetra. She had moved to pull out her sword, and as the women foolishly took her eyes off of me to turn her gaze to Tetra, we both watched as Tetra yelled out a battle cry in her fury, running at the women.

"Stop!" I yelled at Tetra with force. She skidded to a stop and looked at me in shock, anger having disappeared in surprise. "This is my fight. It's my job to protect you, Captain." I heard her grumble some nasty things, trying to get her point across that she didn't need to be protected, but she stepped back into the sidelines. My eyes flicked back to the women, I heard her snort, obviously amused.

"Come on kid, I'll show you who you shouldn't mess with. Little boys need to learn their place." I could see her grin, the white of her teeth showing, bright against her dark skin. I grind my teeth. I knew she was trying to get to me. And, lucky her, she had. I was ashamed that she could get under my skin so easily. But it ticked me off to have someone like her, some kidnapping pirate, tell me to learn my place. I may be young, but I knew how to fight just as well as a man should. And I was going to protect my princess.

Of course she may deny it. Hell! I sometimes deny. But that didn't mean she wasn't the princess of Hyrule. She still was and would be for many years to come. She was also the last proven Hylian to have the blood of the Royal Family pumping through her veins. She was our last hope for order within the New Hyrule. That is, whenever we found it.

If I hadn't mentioned this before, it had become way too obvious long ago that everyone on this ship, including myself, was some of the last surviving Hylians. That means that Tetra would have been the princess of the land I was born from if Ganondorf hadn't escaped from his imprisonment and set misfortune upon Hyrule. And I believe that rightfully made Tetra my princess. And a good warrior should always protect his princess with his life. Or, at least that's what I thought. Not only that, but it had really hurt to see Tetra tossed aside like that. It had bothered me to see someone handle her so roughly, even if she was strong for her age.

Because of this, I was feeling ready to fight off anything that tried hurt her, and I felt it was my job to defend her. And now that I knew she was okay, I felt safe to completely focus on the enemy.

The women was already on me, slashing away with both swords, and I was barely able to block each strike, already having various tears in my clothes, as well as a couple small cuts as the tip or edge of the blade grazed my skin. I didn't think I'd ever get a hit in. I knew whoever this was had trained themselves well. But then I saw it, an opening. Before, whenever I tried to get a hit in, the woman would easily block with her large swords. Now I saw that she was defenseless when she was preparing to use what I assumed to be her ultimate attack.

When she prepared her attack, she'd crouch lower, one long sword held up to curve over her head, the other lower to the ground. When she moved, she kind of jumped forward, spinning as she did so. I could easily avoid this with a sideways jump, and I noticed when I jumped, she stayed still to catch her breath. Maybe the attack took some energy to perform?

I saw Tetra waiting anxiously off to the side. I knew she was uncomfortable just standing there doing nothing when she could be fighting, but she would wait until I needed help to jump in. Of course, I wouldn't need that help now that I'd found the women's weak spot.

When she had attempted this attack again, I took the opening, slashing out her side. Blood started to seep from the long cut I'd made across her hip. It looked painful, but she hadn't screamed out, only flinched slightly when my blade had sliced through her skin. Of course she was furious now, and she seemed to bounce back almost immediately. Slowly but surely, I noticed after I had got a few hits in, causing some painful looking cuts and wounds, she started to weaken, her movements becoming more sluggish, her slashes not as powerful. She was drenched in her own blood, and so was my sword, I ignored it though.

Her weakened state opened up more opportunities to strike, and after many more long minutes, she fell to the ground, weakened from too much loss of blood and exhaustion. I knew she had only fainted, and I didn't no if she was still half conscious. I stood over her, rage starting to boil up in my veins as I stared at her face, my sword held high, pointed at her heart. Images of her dragging Tetra to the edge of the ship and tossing her across the deck flashed through my mind. Then more images came forward. Ganondorf. She reminded me of him. Sure, she was a woman, and definitely a lot prettier than Ganondorf, but there were similarities. I could now see her red hair, and that's what reminded me the most.

I thought I should get it over with already and plunge the damn sword down, but I couldn't. Watching her now, her blood spilling all around, soaking my feet—I knew she would die from blood loss anyway if I just left her for a little longer—where I stood towering over her. I was torn. One part of my mind hissed to kill her, wanting violence and blood as a reaction to the images flooding my mind. But then there was the sane part of my mind, telling me that she wasn't a monster despite what she had tried to do. She was a human—Or, at least something similar—and she was also a woman. I swear it was like there was a small goddess sitting on my right shoulder, and a dark version of myself on the left. The goddess offered the idea of letting the woman live, maybe keep her as a prisoner and try to persuade her to tell us why she had tried to kidnap Tetra—And of course we would treat her wounds while she was here-. My dark self had some good points too. One, we didn't have any place for prisoners on this ship. Two, she didn't seem to be some stupid human that would willingly stay imprisoned on our ship. And three, she was most likely going to die in a matter of minutes anyway.

My mind was so deep into the debate of whether I should kill her or not, I didn't hear the small gasp from behind me. It was only when I heard the loud clang of metal that I spun around. I was shocked to meet the back of Tetra 's head. Apparently, the woman had friends—Who looked a lot like her—who had decided to sneak on the ship to help her out. If Tetra hadn't jumped in, I would have lost my head. 'Stupid! Pay attention.' I yelled at myself. Tetra pushed the woman away with her sword, glancing back worriedly at me.

Well that wasn't what I expected. Maybe a smirk, or even a wink, but not a concerned look. I thought this only before I took surveillance of the rest of the deck, then I realized the meaning behind the look. Women surrounded us; all dressed similar to the woman that lay unconscious behind me. My eyes widened in shock, most of them were quiet, ready to attack at any given moment, except for two who whispered quietly, looking at their friend. A woman that looked to be in much higher rank came forth.

"Get them! But I want them alive!" The women didn't hesitate to attack. Tetra and I did our best to fight them off, but it wasn't long before we realized there was too many. I saw a woman come up from behind Tetra while she was busy fighting another two women, ready to bash her in the head with the hilt of her sword.

"Tetra!" I cried out desperately, but it was to late for her to defend. She only had time to spin around to get the hilt smashed into her forehead. There was a sickening crack that filled the air, drowning out all noise as I stared horror-stricken and wide-eyed as she collapsed. It almost like time had stopped as she hit the ground. Some women scattered, and I could only watch as Tetra's head banged against the floor. When she made contact with the wood, I swear I saw a few flecks of blood spattered the women that were still close by, and after that, her head kind of lolled to the side, out of my view. Her eyes, as she was falling, they had taken on this sort of blank look, almost like she was hypnotized. To see her like that, in such a state, I swear I felt a stab of pain, I would say it was aimed at my heart, but it wasn't, not really. It felt like it had hit everywhere, and in a way, it hadn't. It was a confusing feeling, and I can only say it hurt and bothered me more than I would have liked. It definitely hurt. But that was impossible, I wasn't injured anywhere, so I shouldn't feel pain.

Maybe the sight of her in such a condition was what bothered me. I felt a swarm of emotions, so many; I couldn't quite make out all of them. Some I could, because some were so familiar, like concern, guilt, and rage. At first, I thought they had killed her. I thought she was died. Which is what drove me to run at the woman with newfound strength, and violently slash at the woman's back. She fell to the ground, but I didn't stop to wonder if I had damaged her spinal cord. I rushed to Tetra, falling to my knees beside her. I was only faintly aware of the women all bearing down on us, coming closer to attack. I cupped her face in my hands, moving to get a better look. I saw blood, lots of blood, just sliding and dripping down her face as the rest soaked her hair. It looked horrible, but I felt relieved at the sight of her still breathing, more like panting, but breathing. I knew they had knocked her out for a reason, and it was obvious why, but I was too relieved that she hadn't been killed from such a fatal blow to care.

And then I felt something smash against the back of my head. Hard, too, and the world went black as I fell forward on top on Tetra's unconscious body.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open before squinting shut again as pain shot from the back of my head in every direction. I moaned quietly. My head throbbed painfully like my heartbeat. Actually, my heart was beating rather frantically right now, and it seems that it had decided to take residence in my throat.

So who's shallow heartbeat was I listening to?

Despite the pounding in my head, the soreness that had spread throughout my body, and the icy cold air that surrounded me, I managed to open my eyes, realizing only now that I was using someone's chest as my pillow. I turned my head to see who it was. The shock was enough to have me jumping into a sitting position. I suddenly remembered why I felt pain.

The women. They had attacked Tetra and me.

I bent over her, putting my hand to her forehead as gently as I could. I knew it was not gentle enough because her body cringed against the ground she lay on. I was surprised when I pushed her bangs to see only a bruise in the spot she had been hit, dried blood from before crusted into her hair and stuck to her face.

"Fairies can work wonders, don't ya think?" I whipped around to stare at the person who had spoken. Only now did I become aware of Tetra's and my missing weapons. I saw a girl dressed like all the other women who attacked us. She looked to be about our age. "Are you confused?" I didn't answer; instead, I finally took a look at our surroundings. It looked like they had thrown us into some kind of cell, but I could tell we were still on a ship from how it looked outside the bars. "After our fighters knocked you out, our guards came to take you to one of many of our ships. They just so happened to haul you onto the ship I reside in, and lucky you, too, because I was the only one here willing to heal your friend over there." She tilted her head to motion at Tetra with her chin, "I have a small collection of fairies that I have caught from various places. Fairies can heal some of the worst kinds of wounds, and since your friend would have died, I was kind enough to use one to save her from death." She crossed her arms, leaning against the wall opposite to our cell. I prepared to give my thanks, but she halted my words with her raised hand. "Don't thank me. You don't have to because I expect you to pay me back. Fairies aren't too easy to get my hands on, you see."

"I don't have any rupees, if that's what you want." I finally spoke, my voice weaker than I would have liked. She laughed, and it wasn't a friendly one either.

"Please, I wouldn't trust you enough to actually get me the rupees, you're just a kid." I think my jaw actually dropped. Did she just call me a kid? When she's a kid herself? No, I must have heard her wrong. "Close your mouth, kid, something might fly in there." Yup, so my jaw did drop, and she did say I was a kid.

"What is it with you guys, calling me a kid?" I spat.

She smirked, "That's what you are, right? A kid, I mean." Then her smile turned into a sneer, "And we aren't 'guys', we're all women here." I decided not to point out that she was a kid as well. Instead, I ponder the thought of all of them being women. 'Not that hard to figure out', I thought. "Anyway," she said, "I don't want rupees, I'm just letting you know that you owe me, and if I ever need something, it will be your job to return the favor." I only nodded, she paused for a minute, and then said, "You can go back to checking on your girlfriend, I'm not gonna do anything to ya both."

I felt my face heat up to an incredible temperature. My face felt hot compared to my body in the freezing cold of this cell. "S-she is not my girlfriend! She's my captain!" I struggled to get out the words. I thought she would laugh at me, maybe jab me with a few insults, but she didn't. She became serious, still leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"You know, on most pirate ships, having romantic feelings for the captain is frowned upon." I think my mouth dropped open again, and she was speaking before I could say anything, "Don't even try to deny it, it was obvious, and I only saw you interact with her for a minute," she paused, and then continued in a louder voice, "hell, she wasn't even awake! I saw the look on your face when you were checking her injury. Plus, I heard all about the events that went on after our fighters attacked your ship. A few had been talking about your reactions, you know, throughout the fight.

When you had killed one of our fighters, the one who had done the job of knocking out your little friend, they said that was when your expressions were the most confusing to them. Then one had suggested that you looked…broken, or something strange like that. And of course you looked mad. Very mad, in fact, she said it had been many years since she'd seen someone so enraged during a fight." Her eyes closed, she shook her head slowly, almost like she was ashamed, "They couldn't understand. They couldn't understand the meaning. 'Why was he furious?' One had asked. 'He wasn't that angry when his own life was in danger.' Of course, they could partly understand the anger. Friendship. They thought it was friendship. They knew what it felt like when we lost a sister, but we've had training, and we don't show our emotions easily. They knew people outside our race don't have that kind of training, and therefore, didn't wonder how you could show emotions like you did. There was, however, one thing that baffled them completely. 'Why did he look devastated?' They don't get it. Our people have been sailing the seas too long. We aren't meant for this kind of life, we need to live on land to learn things we don't learn on our own from other land dwellers.

Being all women, and trained to never show the things we feel inside, we know nothing about the true feelings of love, hate, joy, and living. The only love we will ever feel is for our other sisters, and our training even keeps that love from becoming strong enough to the point we would risk our lives for theirs. We risk our lives for orders, for fights, for our pride, and for what we have always been trained to do. Not for someone else's life."

It was then that she removed herself from the wall, walking towards an exit that had no door, just a staircase that I assumed lead into the larger parts of the ship, "None of them may have got it, but I had as I listened to them talk. Love is useless, and it only holds you down. It won't help you, it will only prove to be the cause of your own destruction if you even hope to find and help build the New Hyrule. Belief or disbelief rests with you." And with that, she left the room.

I sat in the same spot I'd been sitting in since I woke, and I didn't move for a very long time. Of course I wouldn't have even noticed this since I was to deep into my thoughts. Her words had left so many questions swarming my mind.

So they all came from a certain race? Which race? Was it one I didn't know? Why were they all women? Where were the men? 'Sailing the seas too long', 'aren't meant for this kind of life', what did she mean? Was she saying her race was one of the races that lived on after Ganondorf destroyed Hyrule? Why did they take us onto their ship? How many ships, no, how many people of their race still live? Why did the girl help Tetra when she could have just let her die? Did they need us both for something important? Why was the girl's race trained the way they were? Was she right about my feelings for Tetra, and I was just oblivious to my own feelings? How did she know we were looking for the New Hyrule? Is Ganondorf responsible for everything that is happening to us?

Despite how I would like to deny it, I knew deep down that Ganondorf was somehow involved with this. Even after his imprisonment deep under the waves of the Great Sea, he still haunts us. I tried my best not to think about him. Or, at least for now. There was one last question I had, a question I still wasn't sure I wanted an answer to.

If this race is all women, how do they have kids? I didn't think to deeply about this one, because I think I'd rather be kept in the dark.

Despite all my thinking, I knew I probably wouldn't get the answers that I wanted—Well, some I didn't really want, like that last question for an example—for a long time, that is, if ever. I heard movement from beside me, and as I turned to look, I realized Tetra was waking up. How long had I been lost in thought?

"Link?" I heard her whisper hoarsely, trying to get her eyes to focus on me.

"I'm here." I whispered back. She seemed to be having trouble concentrating.

"Where are we? What's going on?" Her expression showed her confusion. She must have forgot the fight. Well, I guess anyone would after taking a hit to the head like that. She tried to sit up, then groaned and grasped her forehead, "Holy Goddesses! Fuck. What happened?"

"We're locked up on some other pirate ship. Do you remember what happened before you fainted?" I stared at her, already knowing she probably doesn't remember much if anything at all. She looked like she was really thinking, her forehead creasing in concentration, and then smoothing out as she winces. Probably because her head is still sore, I'm sure. Finally, she shakes her head slowly, her face blank.

I sighed, this means I would have to explain everything that happened. But first, I would need to know what she already remembers. "What was the last thing you can recall from…this morning." At least I think it was still the same day, since I, you know, don't really know what time or day it is.

"I…I remember training with you early, and then…cleaning your cut," she pointed to my collarbone where her sword had cut my skin, "after that…I think I went up to the deck…" Her eyes sort of widened in realization, "and someone come up from behind me. They tried to drag me off the ship, but you came just before the person could. I remember being thrown across the deck. After that you fought the person." She paused for a moment, and then spoke again, "That's as far as my memory goes." Good, she remembered most of it; I wouldn't have much to explain.

I jumped into an explanation of what happened right before I finished of my fight with the woman, and how Tetra saved me from a surprise attack. I told everything that happened up until her waking up, only leaving out the embarrassing parts—Like the girl saying I held romantic feelings for Tetra—out.

When I was done, she stayed quiet. Finally, she spoke, "I'm sorry." She whispered, to my surprise she sounded guilty. "I guess it's my fault we're here, I'm the one who couldn't take care of myself. If you didn't have to worry about me, you wouldn't be here." Her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes. I burst out laughing, so hard tears formed at the corner of my eyes. I held my stomach as my head fell back, my eyes closed as the tears finally fell down my cheeks. "What's so funny?" She exclaimed loudly.

I opened my eyes, trying to calm my laughter as I wiped away my tears. Tetra looked pissed and red in the face. "Can't take care of yourself? You?" And the laughter was back, I couldn't help it, she was probably the strongest girl I know. Sure, Ganondorf had managed to capture her that one time, but she made up for it during the actual fight. And yeah, she had been taking by the ghost ship, but, hello, it _was _a ghost ship, not many could help it in situation like that. Plus, her soul was strong, so the ghost ship was drawn to her, but it was _because_ her soul was strong that kept from having all her life force drained away. I took the time to point this out to her, but she only huffed, shaking her head.

"On to a different subject. From the details I've heard, I think I know what race the women are from. First, they are all women. Second, they all dress like they are from the desert. Third, they all call each other sisters and look similar, they have fighters, guards, and mostly likely, captains or leaders. Fourth, the girl said they don't belong at sea, leading to the conclusions that her race had lived on from before Ganondorf destroyed Hyrule, and quite possible before he was even born. You also mentioned that certain traits of theirs reminded you of Ganondorf." Tetra seemed to be taking this seriously, "Tell me, Link, did you ever learn what race Ganondorf was from?"

I shook my head. I had never cared to even wonder if he was from _any_ race, let alone _what _race. "He was born in the desert over two hundred years ago. Born within a race called the Gerudo, a race of all women, he was the only male child. For the Gerudo, a male child is born only every one hundred years, and he takes his rightful place on the throne as the King of Gerudos." Tetra frowned, "As you know, Ganondorf was power hungry, he wasn't satisfied with his power over his race alone. He wanted more, he wanted to rule all of Hyrule. The Gerudo willingly followed their King in his quest for more power; the only exception was one woman, Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit. Nabooru is dead now, and Ganondorf is left imprisoned within stone under the Great Sea, but the Gerudo are still his people. Although it was thought that the entire race had died out during the Great Flood, there is a chance they might have managed to somehow keep their people alive and took to the seas to live the life of pirates. Of course, this would be very fitting, considering they were thieves when they lived in the desert. "

"So…you're saying that the women that attacked us could be some of the remaining Gerudo?" I asked, not really sure if it could be possible, but then again, if magic is real, why can't this be a possibility?

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Although we won't know for sure unless they actually admit it, and if they do, it might just be the reason they kidnapped us. Maybe it has something to do with Ganondorf? "

"Sometimes I wonder if you can read minds, because I've been wondering the same thing." Tetra smirked, her self-confidence brimming to the fullest.

"I like to think that I can use my smarts to my advantage when needed." She said in a smug voice. I laughed and her smug smile turned warm. "Anyway, if we want to get any answers, we'll have to find a way to get out of this cell, or we might just have to somehow get one of the Possibly-Gerudo to talk to us."

"Yeah, because that we'll be the easiest thing we have to do." I scoffed sarcastically, one of my rare sarcastic comments coming up. Tetra giggled staring at me in a way that made me a little uncomfortable, although I didn't know why.

"Well, we'll need something to keep us busy until we come up with something, so let's play a game or something." She reached for one of many small rocks that littered our cell, and started scratching something into the floor.

"Maybe you should rest a bit longer, I mean, you did get hit pretty hard."

"Please, Link, I'm not a pansy. I feel fine, besides, I couldn't sleep even if I was a baby Goron and you played the Goron's Lullaby." I gave her bewildered look, and she only sighed in disappointment, "An old story. Nevermind, forget I said it. Anyway, let's start." I smiled.

Maybe being imprisoned in a cell wasn't so bad. Especially with Tetra.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** That's the third chapter. Hope you liked it.

For those of you who couldn't guess what race it was before Tetra mentioned it, I don't know what to say other than you should go play OOT again (If you haven't already). Haha.

If anyone can point out the Majora's Mask references, you get a cookie! One is obvious, the other not so much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:**This is the next chapter for TNATF. I know this is really late, and for that, I apologize. I've been spending a lot of time mostly thinking about the chapter than writing it. I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going with this. On top of all that thinking, summer has been pretty hectic for me. Plus, I've been suffering from off and on writer's block.

I started writing this story for a reason, and my first was to show how the New Hyrule in Spirit Tacks came to be. I didn't think leaving it at 'the goddesses imprisoned Malludas and Tetra and her crew took over without a problem' kind of thing I had picked up on throughout the beginning of Spirit Tracks was good enough. I think they would have many more struggles than that, especially considering we're talking about Zelda games. Nothing was ever made simple, quick, and easy in the games, so why would they make it that way for the stuff that we just hadn't seen? Anyway, somehow along the way, I kept thinking about other things that could take place, and after a summer of thinking, I came up with the basic plot, and many small ideas. Hopefully now I'll be able to write chapters more easily, and I'm sorry it took me this long to figure out.

I also want to thank you to everyone who has continued to read this story through its very first chapters. Oh, and for a heads up, this chapter won't be from Link's point of view.

Rating: T

Warnings: Swearwords

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

_Italics _Dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

**Bold** Usually someone thinking during dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea to write this and my words.

* * *

**The Now And The Future**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Making an Escape**

* * *

I shouted victoriously. That was the sixth win in a row. I looked down at the scratches and marks that had been craved into the floor in front of me. We had been playing little games like this for who knows how long, and surprisingly, it gets boring after winning so many times. And that had me wondering, was he just letting me win? A thought that utterly pissed me off. I didn't need pity, especially over some stupid little game. But those thoughts vanished almost as soon as I thought them. Link wasn't like that. Sure, he probably wouldn't rub a loss in my face, but he wouldn't just let me win. If anything else didn't matter, he knew that would piss me off. Link, at the moment, was looking very helpless, staring at our last game in confusion. He looked to be deep in thought. Finally, he looked up, as if just remembering I was there.

"I don't get this game!" He groaned, looking back at the board as he pointed to his examples, "If I mark this box, you get in my way here. And when I mark off this box to steer you away from the win, you find another way. How is it possible that you can win every time?" He exclaimed, looking more frustrated than I had seen him in a long while. I laughed, causing him to frown at me. He was just too cute. Of course I didn't let my mind wonder off on thoughts similar to that. I wouldn't let my mind fall into the gutter. I'm not some perverted old man, after all. I'm a proud, respectable, young captain. " Why are you laughing? I'm serious."

"Exactly why I'm laughing. It's just a silly little game someone came up with a long time ago to pass the time. It just takes a bit of strategy, a bit of thinking ahead, and patience to think out your move before you make. You can't just decide a move on the first good one you see. " I shrugged my shoulders, and he went back to thinking.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's play another round." He finished his sentence with a determined nod. I laughed loudly.

"Would you please not continue this barbaric torture to our good floor?" My head snapped to the side, eyes locking on to our unexpected visitor. I saw Link jump from where he sat on the floor. A girl stood by the door, definitely looking like Link's definition of the rest of the women. And definitely similar to the many interpretations of Gerudo. Although, she looked young, maybe around our age. Was this the girl that had spoken to Link while I was unconscious? How long had she been standing there? And how did she manage to get down here without us noticing her presence?

I spoke before Link could, already over the shock, "Good isn't what I'd call it. And you're not the one forced to sit on it. It's cold and damp. Maybe you should think about fixing that. But before you do, I'd like to know who you are. So, who are you?" Link sighed, his palm coming up to slap his forehead. I ignored him, continuing to glare at our unwelcome visitor.

"I don't think you're in any position to be asking questions, girl. And as for the floor, are first priority is not to make _prisoners_ to feel _welcome_." Then, with a sarcastic sneer, "I'm so very sorry the service is not to your liking. You really are an ungrateful little brat. We could have done a lot worse then just throw you into a cell. We didn't even bind your hands and legs." Her stare turned cold and hateful as she continued to meet my glare.

I felt red hot heat boil up inside me. My fist clenched and unclenched, wanting more than anything to hit something at this very moment. Preferable the little cocky girl that stood just out of reach on the other side of these bars. I gritted my teeth and held my breath from saying something I might regret. Blowing up from anger issues was not going to get me anywhere, and if anything, was only going to make this situation worse for both me, and Link.

"How can I be grateful when you have given me nothing to be grateful for?" I asked as calmly as was possible for me.

"You should be grateful that my sisters were all kind enough to not kill ya both on the spot."

"I don't think your sisters are the ones we should be grateful to for that.  
It was whoever was in charge of them. But then again, she also had us kidnapped and stuck in this goddess damn place. This isn't a fucking luxurious hotel if you ask me." My tone was nastier than I would have liked. Actually, I would have loved to make it a lot nastier, but I knew that that might not be smart in our situation.

To my surprise, the girl laughed, "Of course not. You do realize you're on a pirate ship, right? Locked inside a cell or not, it ain't gonna be the nicest of place to live in." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"I know. I am the captain of a pirate ship, after all." My head held high, I glanced back at the girl.

"Yes, but I don't understand how. You're still just a kid." I wanted to argue, but I didn't get a chance because she was speaking again, cutting off any words I had started to speak, "Which reminds me, the reason I came down here was to tell you to be ready to leave," my eyebrows rose into my hairline, and I saw Link give her a 'what the hell' look, "someone will come to fetch you both and bring you to the captain," her voice turned sour, a look of disdain taking over her face when she mentioned her captain, " she will then ask you questions. That, or do something utterly crazy to you, 'cause that's just how she is." She grimaced.

"Why so hateful to your captain? Is she your mom or something? Always harder on you than anyone else? Don't be so disrespectful to your captain. Even if I hate her already just knowing she's in charge of this whole thing, doesn't mean you should." I spoke in a matter-of-fact way. To my surprise, she turned her head away from my direction, her voice hard when she spoke.

"She isn't my mother. She is just another sister. And she is also a horrible captain. She doesn't deserve the position, nor does she deserve my respect." Her words slowly died out as she became quieter. I couldn't see her expression, but I assumed it was pitiful from Link's reaction. His eyes widened slightly, then, as if everything made sense, his face took on a look of sympathy, trust, and a sadness of his own.

"You know, it isn't as hard to deal with people like that, and maybe other sad things as well, if you have a friend to help you through it." He said softly, leaning forward as his hands grasped the bars. He sent her a warm smile, his eyes closing as he tilted his head to the side in the most adorable expression. It was so kind and warm, that it could've almost even melted the iciest darkness within Ganondorf's heart.

Almost.

I stared, mesmerized by the very sight of that kind smile. How could anyone have as good of a heart as Link seemed to have? It was unreal. It made you wonder how he could fight and kill with such ease. He is so pure, and yet, here he is, flashing that warm smile at our enemy. Which is what made me snap out of my daze, my insides already turning into a large, icky green puddle of jealousy. Bah! I know I shouldn't feel upset, but I couldn't help it! He's part of my crew, after all. He shouldn't be flashing other pirates that look! Well, that's what I kept telling myself to think. But secretly, in the way back depths of my mind, I wished he would flash a smile like that at me once in a while. Of course I would never say that out loud.

The girl didn't look much different from me a few moments ago, only more shocked. She stared at him with wide eyes, and only after his smile went from warm to awkward she realized she was gaping. Heh. A blank expression overtakes her old one, and she speaks again in a bored tone, but I can see the emotion swarm in her eyes. Emotions that I didn't want her feeling towards Link. I glared at her, but she didn't look at me.

"Someone will be here to get you both within the hour." She stood there for a moment, looking lost in thought. I saw confusion fill her eyes before she finally shook her head and swiftly turned to leave. 'Weird girl,' I thought as she disappeared up the stairs. I couldn't help but wonder what her captain was going to say, or do, to us. I turned to Link to see what he thought, but when I looked over, he seemed to be in deep thought.

"Link?" I called out. He didn't move and when I reached out to touch him, he didn't budge, "Link? What are you thinking about?" I asked softly as I touched his shoulder. He jolted out of his daze, moving away from my hand immediately. I wasn't able to totally mask the hurt I felt when he rejected my touch.

"Sorry. You just surprised me a bit there. I guess I had drifted off in my thoughts." Was it that obvious that he had hurt me? Or did he not mean to hastily move away from my touch? And why did I care that he didn't want me too close to him? I mean, I am his captain. Of course he would feel awkward from such a gentle touch. Maybe I was just overreacting about this. But when I looked up at Link's face, he looked disappointed. Maybe he wanted me to touch him? Or it could just be that my crazy imagination has gotten the better of me. I wanted to groan loudly. Before Link, I never had problems with an overactive imagination. I decided to treat it as no big deal, blow it off, and get on with my life.

"It's fine. I understand. I just wanted to ask what you thought of this captain that she mentioned." I lowered my voice, just incase someone was listening from above the stairs, "And also to see if you thought it might be a good idea to try and make an escape when the guards let us out." I spoke quickly, but quietly.

He shook his head sadly. "No, it won't work. They aren't stupid. They will most likely have guards around us at all times. The only way would be if they only sent one or two guards down to get us," He seemed to pause and I took the advantage to speak.

"Link, we can take on a few more guards than that." I said proudly, knowing Link could handle himself. He knew just as well as me how these women fought, and despite a few differences, they all fought the same way. Plus, if we were fast enough, they wouldn't see it coming. We wouldn't even have to fight.

"Use your head, Tetra, they have weapons, we don't. We'd be lucky to be able to take on one each. On top of that, just think of how many will be up there when we leave this room, even if we stole the others weapons, we wouldn't be able to defend against them all!" He exclaimed, obviously having no self-confidence in this situation. Well, stealing their weapons wasn't such a bad idea. If only we could steal their looks too…that's it! If we can knock the guards out, we can take their clothes to disguise ourselves as one of their guards. I took a few minutes to go over my plans with Link.

"And how do we hide our skin? We _do_have a much lighter skin tone. We'd stand out like two seagulls among a hoard of keese. How do you suppose we hide that?" He raised an eyebrow at me, simply asking me to answer the impossible.

"Thanks a lot for ruining my plan. It was a good one, too." I mumbled. Link smiled, amusement filled his eyes.

"Tell you what, we still have time. Maybe we can think about it before they come. If we can think of something, and we don't have to deal with too many guards, then we can go with your plan. But for both our sakes, you better hope it works." I nodded, "Alright. Let's get to thinking then."

* * *

It felt like an eternity, but it was probably only twenty minutes. We hadn't come up with the idea that would finish of my plan yet, unless you counted the silly ideas we kept throwing around.

"Maybe we could get a good tan. Do you think they'd let us sunbathe for a while?" We shared a laugh, but then Link turned serious.

"That isn't such a bad idea." His voice told me he wasn't joking.

"Are you kidding? They haven't let us out of this cell. Why would they let us sit on the deck to _sunbathe_?"

"Not sunbathing, but you could probably get away. You're pretty tan already, and if you stay low in the shadows, no one will suspect a thing." He explained slowly.

"But that would mean you would have to stay behind…I'm not leaving without you! What kind of captain would I be then?" I yelled furiously.

"You would be a captain that was thinking about her whole crew, and not just the safety of some tag along."

I stared at him for a long moment. Was that what he thought? That he was just some boy who had come along for the ride? That he wasn't important to the whole crew? "Why would you even think that? You're a part of my crew just as much as Gonzo or Niko is. You aren't here just because you're hitching a ride. You're here, as a part of my crew, for a reason. You've saved my life a ton of times, does that not count for anything? I don't even want to have to admit how many times you've helped me out. You're…you're a part of our family." Link seemed stunned by my words.

Personally, I didn't find them all that strange. Sure, coming out of my mouth, I guess they would be. I suppose anyone would be stunned to hear me say something like that. I never did like all those mushy moments. I mean, they made me feel just plain awkward, and it also showed weakness by letting my guard down. And for the sake of me, and my idiotic crew, I couldn't allow that.

Of course, Link was different. He wouldn't take advantage of a person's weak moment. It was too low for him. He wouldn't do that to someone he called a friend. He was good, through and through.

"It's not that you guys don't make me feel like family. Trust me, the crew is like a big, crazy, second family for me. It's just that…in the end, if something were to happen, I wouldn't mean much. Talking for the best of the crew, if I got away, and found the ship, it wouldn't help much. Now if you got away, you would mean everything. You're their captain, even if I don't ever see you guys again, you'll find the New Hyrule. Don't you see that? I'm not an important piece to your ship. You can move forward without me."

I stared at him long after the awkward silence had settled in, my face showing how idiotic I thought he was. "You know, Link, I thought we got over all this stupid shit. I thought you'd matured a little, but I guess I was wrong. You're still just a blind little boy." Link scowled at my words, knowing that I wasn't being very mature either, considering that at least a quarter of my words was anger speaking. I knew Link was far stronger than the average thirteen year old, in more than one way. "You're a fool if you think you aren't important to the crew. That you aren't important for us to succeed at rebuilding Hyrule."

I took a deep breath, knowing it wouldn't make much of a difference if I didn't say it all. I could just tell from his unchanged expression, "You're a fool if you think you aren't important to me." As the words slipped past my lips, they became quieter and quieter, until the last couple words were barely audible. But I guess if you'd saved a world or two, it should be expected that you'd have trained senses. It didn't help when the words were directed towards a hylian, who are known for their sensitive hearing.

I knew he'd heard the words, because his eyes widened slightly, the scowl disappearing as he gawked at me like I just turned into a gerudo. I felt the heat rise to my face once again, and I made a look of annoyance, "Stop gaping at me. 'Oooh boy, Tetra cares for people! She has a heart! Who knew?'" I said in a sarcastic voice, my eyes locked on the floor we sat on.

"So you…like me? As in, you think of me as close and important friend?" I looked up quickly, ready to gripe about how ridiculous it was not to know I thought of him as a friend, considering he was allowed to stay on my ship, but all words died in my throat as my eyes reached his face. I stared at Link, with his deliriously happy, goofy smile, and cheerful expression. I swallowed, looking away. He really was just a boy. Especially if a few words could mean so much to him. If they could make him so happy. "I still don't think I'm worth it, but if makes you and the crew happy, I'll return to the pirate ship." Now he kind of smirked, and I had the urge to slap him upside the head, "You may not believe this, but I've had experience with these kind of situation."

"Why does that not surprise me?" I mumbled, then quickly continued, "So you'll come with me?" I hated how my voice sounded hopeful.

"No. I think it's best if I stay back. I may get some answers to the questions we have. Besides, getting out of here will be easier if I don't have to worry about another person." I wanted to let him in on that little fact that I could take care of myself, but he beat me to it, "I already know. You can handle yourself just fine. That's why I trust you'll get off this ship safely on your own." I only frowned. I never realized how stubborn Link could be when determined.

"Fine, whatever, but I'll be-" I was cut off by quiet, almost inaudible footsteps approaching. A gerudo woman stepped out of the stairway. Her expression seemed nonchalant, but I could see the boredom in her eyes. In an emotionless voice, she began to speak.

"I'm here to escort you to our captain." But see, I knew she wasn't here to 'escort' us. She was here to make sure we didn't try to escape. I shared a quick glance with Link. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. They had _really_ underestimated us. I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't even considered binding our hands. Maybe they assumed without weapons, we were nothing. Which was retarded, because I knew how to use my hands, and my feet, and even my knee if I had to, just as well as a sword. Hell, if I could only move a finger, I'd just go for the eye!

Okay, well, before I picture any gruesome image from those thoughts, I guess I should pay more attention to the gerudo. She was already at the door to our cell. Once it was flung open, she grabbed our arms in an almost painful grip, dragging us to our feet, and practically pulling us along as she walked.

I twitched in annoyance, and Link noticed, giving me a look behind her back. He was trying to warn me not to do anything too sudden.

Instead of actually paying attention to Link, I swung my foot with as much force as I could into the back of her knee. She lost her balance, and before she could regain it, I swung my foot again, this time aimed for her head. It was enough to startle her, and I grabbed her arm quickly, twisting it behind her back in an awkward position, making sure to put pressure on it.

Hey, I know what you're thinking, but I'm not a weak little girl. I can take care of myself. Before anymore of the shock could wear off, I quickly pressed down on the pressure point in her neck. Hard. Hard enough to momentarily stop the blood flow to her brain. And any squirming she was just about to start up was stopped. Just like that, her tense body went limp.

I turned to Link, and saw him blink rapidly. Well, I wasn't a captain for nothing. Sure, I had taken the position after my mother died, but I didn't take training my body lightly. It just so happened that I just don't get to use my skills a lot. I don't fall into situations like this everyday, after all.

"You didn't kill her, did you?" I frowned at him, looking over to make sure she was still breathing. Yeah, she was alive.

"Of course not. Who do you take me for? She's just passed out. Can't you see her breathing?" I asked, knowing her breaths were faint.

"No." He said bluntly. Oh well, I'd better start moving. I stood, taking off the slippers that all gerudo women wore.

"Go find something to cover her with while I work on changing. And don't peek." I huffed, seeing his face turn beet red. He scurried off into the corner of the room, turning down a hallway leading into another area. While he busied himself, I concentrated on wiggling the gerudo out of her puffy pants. Who wears pants like these, anyway? Gerudo, I suppose. Still doesn't make them any less weird.

Once I was done, I slid them over my shorts. I removed my vest, doing my best to covering her with the short materiel. What? I didn't want Link peeping on some random woman. Gerudo or not, that didn't change the fact the she was of the female race. My loose tank top served as a cover for her top half while I worked on the little top she had been wearing a moment before. Link showed up just as I was fixing the shirt. If you could call it that.

He kept his eyes away from the gerudo as he handed me a blanket. I didn't question how he got it, but instead covered the gerudo's body with it, snatching my clothing back out from under the blanket.

I looked at the clothes in my hand, then down at my body, then back to my hand, then my body. I finally let out a sigh, shoving my clothes into the puffy pants I wore. What? They _are _baggy enough.

I turned back to Link, and saw he was smiling. It was obvious he was trying to hold back a laugh. "Shut it." I glared at him, rolling the damn pants up by the waistline. The darn puffy, too long, pants.

"I didn't say anything." But I could here his voice crack as he held onto the hysterical laughter we both knew wanted to come out. I just continued to glare as I fixed the pants. The top was embarrassingly baggy in the front. I let out another sigh, this one being more annoyed, as I finished fixing the outfit as best I could. After I was done, I grabbed the large sword, still in its sheath, that had fallen when I removed the puffy pants. Then I turned in the direction of the stairway.

"I need to go now. I have no idea how you'll explain her," I nodded towards the gerudo, "when they finally catch on, but I sure hope it's good."

"Thanks. You've given me so much confidence." He said sarcastically, and I couldn't help the cheerful smile that took over my face. I quickly plastered on a serious expression, slapping him hard on the shoulder and leaving my hand there. He winced, but didn't move away.

"You come back to the ship. And I'm not asking, got it?" I lowered my voice to sound more like a responsible captain. My voice was serious while it lasted, but then I cracked and let out a laugh, "Just come back. Or I'm coming for you." Link smiled back.

"I make no promises." With that, I sighed, removing my hand from his shoulder, and stepping back. What he didn't get was that I wasn't kidding when I said I'd come back for him. If I didn't, the crew would nag me forever.

And maybe I would miss him, too. But only a little.

I sent him one last smile before heading up the stairs quietly, only letting the nervous, worried expression take over my face once I was shrouded in the darkness of the stairway.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** There you have it. Review? They really are wonderful, and very loved. ^^ I wouldn't have ever been able to get this up without all the reviews I've gotten.

Woot! The crew will make their next appearance in chapter 5. Gotta love that big, bundle of idiots. Especially Gonzo. He's my favorite. XD

**EDIT: **I added a line towards the end that I forgot to add while I was writing this. The sentence was adding to the seventh to last paragraph. You don't have to read it if you haven't already, but it will help make a bit of sense as to why she suddenly has a sword in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** Here's the fifth chapter of TNANF! If you didn't go back to read the added sentence in chapter four, that's okay, just don't be too alarmed when a sword suddenly appears in Tetra's hands. XD

Also, I know this is another late chapter. I wanted to make this chapter longer than it is, but got stuck on the last part, so I decided to put the last part of the chapter I had in mind in the next chapter.

*Hands sledge hammer* Feel free to beat me with it. ^-^'

Rating: T

Warnings: Fighting/violence and swearwords

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

_Italics _Dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

**Bold** Usually someone thinking during dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea to write this and my words.

* * *

**The Now And The Future**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

**Playing Good Little Gerudo Girl**

**

* * *

**

A sigh escaped my mouth. Quiet, but louder than a scream in the eerie silence of the stairway. It was incredibly dark. I can't comprehend how the gerudo managed to make it down the many staircases, leading higher and higher as I walked, without tripping and rolling the rest of the way. As I stepped off the last stair, a small flame illuminated the area. It was a candle. I knew this without inspection because I had already inspected it the first three times. It had gone on like this for a short period of time now. I had blindly made my way up many stairs before reaching the end, a small candle ready to greet me at the last step, before I realized that when I turned to my right, I'd find another dozen or so stairs waiting for me. As I began trudging up the next set of stairs, I couldn't help but feel these were different. I could just make out the glow of the candles from above. It also wasn't as cold, so I was probably getting closer to the main floor of the ship, and closer to the deck.

At last, I stumbled off the last step, a door appearing in front of me. Finally! I decided that the only reason it's so dark is because they're hoping that just in case a prisoner were to escape, like myself, they'd trip and fall in the dark, resulting in a broken neck. Well, hah! I made it through your stupid death trap, keeping my head and neck in one piece, thank you very much.

Although it wasn't much of an accomplishment, considering I still had to sneak past a hoard of gerudo without getting caught. The door squeaked loudly as I opened it, making me cringe. The worst thing I could do was draw attention to myself.

Luckily, no one was in the next room. It was a small room, the only thing in it being two torches on each side of the door I'd just opened, and the same for the door across the empty room. I knew I had to go through that door, since it was the only way to go. The door I'd entered slid closed behind me. I turned around in shock when a heard a noise of metal scraping against metal. Bars had slid down across both doors in the room. I knew now that I wasn't the only one here. And I was right, because at that moment, something fell from the ceiling. Or should I say someone?

A gerudo kneeled on the ground, looking directly at me. The shadows in the room danced along with the flickering flames, and I wondered if the dark would be enough to cover me.

"Shouldn't you be in the training room, _child_?" I wanted to let out a huff, and retort with something sarcastic, but I held my breath.

"I just came to check on the prisoners." I finally managed to get out.

"Huh. That's strange, I only allowed _one _guard past. And she wasn't a child. As far as I know, the captain doesn't issue little girls to do a woman's job. But I guess you didn't realize that, did you, _prisoner_?" My blood ran cold. Crap, she knows.

"I'm surprised you didn't start slashing that sword of yours around as soon as I walked into that door." The gerudo sneered at me.

"We're not animals. But if you really want to fight…" And just like that she unsheathed her swords in one fluid motion, already in her fighting stance, "I'm more than happy to oblige."

I grabbed the hilt of my new sword, unsheathing it quickly, and holding it up just in time to avoid being sliced in two. I pushed her back, with enough force that she jumped away. We circled each other, ready to take any advantage we saw. Then she moved, trying to confuse me with her steps as she slashed at my side, I side-stepped that, blocking her other sword with my blade.

I slashed at her back, but that left me open, and she jumped away and swung, successfully sliding her blade down my arm in one raking motion. I ground my teeth to keep from yelling out. It stung, and pain caused my stomach to flip, the blood coating my arm and hand. I didn't have time to investigate how bad the damage was, because she was preparing to attack again, and I needed to use that to my advantage, pain or not. She spun around with swords ready to slash into my skin again, but I managed to stumble to the side and avoid it. I was feeling a little dizzy, not to mention queasy, from all the blood pouring out of that cut.

No matter, I still managed to slide my blade along her back while she was recovering. It was enough to send her stumbling forward, and I took my sword in both hands, covered in my own blood as well, and slashed again. Although she had other plans in mind, and already back on steady feet, she moved out of the way, turning around as she slid her blades across, one barely missing my stomach, the tip of the other just barely grazing my throat. I felt a drop or two of blood bead up from the fresh cut on my neck, and I swallowed hard, stumbling back as she continued to slash at me. That could have been my head. I knew this was becoming dangerous.

Finally, I mustered the strength to swing my blade again, blocking one sword, and knocking the other out of her hand. It slid across the room, scratching against the ground, making a noise that pieced my ears, and finally crashed against the wall. The gerudo gave no remorse to her lost sword, instead, she was too busy stumbling back as a swung my sword again. Along with her sword, I had managed to slice a nice looking cut across her chest. Not quite as deep as the one on my arm, but good enough. I swung my sword downward at an angle, her blade moving up to block it, but my sword managed to slide past her blade, and cutting into her thigh. Hah, take that puffy pants! You stupid excuse for clothes!

I landed another blow, and another. But it seemed like this could go on forever, and I was weakening from blood lose. If I didn't stop the bleeding, I would most likely pass out. And that wouldn't help me get off this ship. I knew what I had to do to end this. It's a move I've seen Link practice various times, and it would be enough to knock her off her feet. Of course, that didn't mean I knew how to do it. I would just have to try my best, and quite possibly chop myself up into pieces during the process.

First, I would have to get my timing right, and to do that, I would have to put my guard down. So I jumped back, sheathing my sword in the process. She and I both knew this wasn't a fight she nor I could surrender. Her reason, it was orders. As for me, it was my only chance, so I had no other options. So, for those reasons, she didn't stop to think about what I was planning. Instead, she moved swiftly, coming at me, ready to slice me in half if she had to. I would have to time it right so I didn't mess up, and I'd only have one chance, so at the moment she swung her blade down, I pushed myself to the side, rolling around, and managed to land back on my feet behind her in a crouch, unsheathing my sword and sliding my blade along her back with force as I leaped upwards. It was clumsy, and I cut the wrist of my injured arm with the tip of the sword, but it sent her spiraling to the floor, slamming faced down into the ground.

I breathed in and out heavily through my mouth, watching her turn to face me as she knelt on the ground. I was getting ready to attack again, thinking it hadn't been enough, but her raised hand halted my actions.

"This isn't over!" I knew now that she wasn't going to fight. She was going to escape, and then alert the captain, along with everyone else, that I was roaming the ship. Before she could move though, I slammed the flat of my blade into the side of her head, and she fell back down, unconscious.

"Oh, I think it is."

* * *

I slid out of the dimly lit bar, and away from the noisy crowd of gerudo, back into the shadows of the hallway. As I continued walking, I held my hand against my stinging cheek. I'd been wandering around for about half an hour trying to find the place they were keeping our things. See, I figured I should grab our stuff and take it back to the ship. The problem was, I don't think I could carry both Link's weapons, and my own. So I decided to just grab my sword. Oh, and the Pirate's Charm, since that was pretty much essential for my escape.

Oh, you were wondering why my cheek is stinging and painfully throbbing? Well, it all started less than ten minutes before.

I saw a dim light up ahead, and I could just barely hear shouting, drunken slurs, and music. The closer I got, the louder the noise became, and soon I was standing in the shadows of the doorway to what seemed to be the hang out for all the gerudo looking to get drunk and have a good time. And let me tell you, they were doing just that. It was chaos. It was way worse than my crew could ever do, and I think I just lost any respect I still felt for the gerudo on this ship, especially their captain, who let them go wild like this.

_And the worst part? I was just caught by a pair young looking gerudo. They were probably in their late teens, and they were definitely drunk. Too startled to protest, now they dragged me into the room with them. Well, that was until they were stopped by an older gerudo. From her single glance, they scurried off in a frightened pace, leaving me behind. Huh, probably someone in a high position._

_Oh dear goddesses, what have I gotten myself into? Her dark eyes snapped onto me. I didn't like them. Her eyes, I mean. There was something wrong within them._

_And on that thought, as if she could read my mind, her hand flew back, and then came gliding downward. The noise of her hand slapping me in the cheek resounded throughout the room, causing silence to fall over everyone. That slap, it was the kind meant to knock you off your feet, make you feel weak. To me, it didn't have quite the same affect, but it had me staring hard at the ground, trying to control myself from whipping out my stolen sword, and taken a nice slash at _**her**_ face. _

"_You're not allowed in here. Everyone knows that. Now go back to the training room."_

_I nodded, and turned. 'Yeah, right, lady._** I**_ don't take orders, I _**give**_ them.' I thought as I slid out into the shadows._

And that's how it happened.

I spent the next half an hour imagining various ways to take my revenge on those evil women, and tried not to laugh wickedly while I plotted it out. Of course, my plotting was interrupted when I past a slightly ajar door. I stopped, taking a second to peek inside. Once I saw who it was, my eyes widened, and I quickly moved away from the door, careful not to make too much noise. Had I really just see the gerudo girl from earlier, curled up on her bed? The image reminded me of a girl in pain. As if…she was suffer?

Nah, no way. That girl seemed too proud…but then again, I'd also see hints of strange behavior, and Link obviously had, too.

'No!' I shook my head quickly, turning and starting back on my way. I wouldn't get involved. I wouldn't. But I couldn't help but cast one last glance back at the door.

* * *

It had taken me a while, but I had finally found a promising room. It ended up being a room next to the captain's. And I knew it was also were she was keeping our things. It was obvious from the heavy guard she had in this one room, guarding something that lay hidden on the other side of the room.

The room itself seemed like a storage area. Plenty of barrels, boxes, and crates. Gerudo patrolled the area, walking up and down the large crates. And all of this cargo made it easy to sneak past them with my awesome ninja powers.

Yeah, right.

I flattened myself against a nearby crate, looking to see if a guard was headed my way before peeking around the corner. One guard was just turning around the corner of a smaller crate, with barrels stacked on top. I quickly padded down the 'corridor' the cargo had created. Turning to make sure no one was appearing way back behind me, I kneeled down behind three barrels. There was a wall of crates in front of the 'corridor'. My only option was to turn left or right. From my position, I could see if anyone was coming up from the right, but that was the direction the guard had walked in. So I was forced to go left.

I stood half way, still hunched over. From what I could see, the coast was clear. I peeked around the corner to be sure, and had to spin around, stepping behind the barrels to hide. A guard had just barely spotted me while walking up the corridor to the left. That was definitely a close one. So I had two options. Wait and see if the guard would turn back, or take a chance and check out the right side.

If I waited, I'd be caught for sure, so I moved quickly towards the crates on the other side. I was right to, because the guard seemed to have turned down another way. And I was in luck, because the wall of crates seemed to end close to where I stood.

I knew I'd be spotted if I just stood around, so I learned that any hesitation from here on out would be risky. I padded across to the wall of crates, flattening myself against a crate again, and I peeked around this corner. There were a couple crates and barrels lined up on the other side of the wall, and I could just make out the tips of spears moving on the other side of those. Again, I didn't have the luxury of standing still, so I moved into this new area of the room, sliding behind more barrels.

This time, I could see the back wall of the room, and I knew I was close. Guards, two I believe, were endlessly making rounds around a long line of large crates, leading closer to the back. This would be the easy part. I could smoothly avoid both guards if I timed it right. What awaited me at the end? I had no clue. I just hoped it was what I thought it was.

So I waited, picking up on the patterns of the guards, and when I saw an opening, I moved. And fast. If I weren't quick enough, a guard would catch me. Although, if I was in too much of a rush, I'd probably bump right into the other guard. Lucky for me, I managed to not do any of those, and still made it. Although I couldn't say I was happy with the results.

There I stood, in front of a door. One that, I could only hope, led me to what I was looking for. And so it did. The room was smaller than the last. Much smaller. In fact, it was more like an oversized closet. But what made me sigh in relief was the sight of Link's and my things. I removed the sword from my waist, picking up my own to replace it. Once I was done with that, I began to search through Link's freaky little magical pouch. I knew I had only a few minutes to spend. Around this time, the captain would have already sent more guards to learn what the hold up was while gathering up the prisoners.

I made a little 'aha' noise when I a wrapped my hand around what I was looking for. The Pirate's Charm. I pulled it out of the nearly empty pouch, setting it back where I found it, while I slid the leather strap around my neck, letting the stone dangle. I turned back to the door with a determined look. The hardest part was to come.

* * *

And once I'd overcome that hardest part, I walked out onto the deck, just in time to hear the shouts from gerudo rushing around below.

I guess they had finally figured out I was gone. I wondered, for more than a brief moment, how Link was doing. Was he hurt? Did they do anything to him? Was he speaking with their captain at this very moment? They wouldn't kill him, would they? Not because of me, right? Was he still sitting in that cell, but alone now?

Dear goddesses! I wouldn't make it off the ship if I kept thinking like this. It was time for me to leave this goddessdamned ship. And so I put one foot in front of the other, walking closer to the railing. I removed the Pirate's Charm from around my neck, rubbing the stone with one hand, and following the instructions for the old stone, expecting an image of the crew to appear.

'Crap! I forgot I can only hear voices through this.' I thought, cursing the stone. But I didn't have to try anything else to make it work, because the crew had seemed to have gained perfect timing while I was away.

"Miss Tetra?" I heard Niko exclaim. Groggily, I might add. Sheesh! I know it's the middle of the night, but you'd think they'd be a little more worried.

"Yes?" I snapped.

I held the stone farther away from me, hearing loud shouts, and I knew he was waking up the whole crew to tell them I was all right. I couldn't help but smile. Despite being idiots, they really did make me feel loved. Which is something I'd never, ever tell them.

From all the crashing and ruffling noises I heard, I was just making a really good guess that they were all crowded around the stone, watching me. Okay, I could picture that perfectly, and I had to admit, it was creepy. How did Link deal with that? With the feeling of knowing unseen people are watching you?

Trying to ignore that little fact, I began to speak, "Listen, I'm safe, but Link's still inside the ship. I got out, but he refused to leave. But before I can do something for him, I need to get back to my ship. Where are you guys?"

"We've been tailing behind their ship for some time now, Miss." I heard Gonzo say proudly. I sighed, sliding a hand down my face.

"Good, that's good. It will make my job easier then."

"In all kindness, Miss…you look like…" Niko trailed off, "Shit." Zuko finished for him in an emotionless voice. "I was going to say 'you need a nap', but thank you for your kind input, Zuko."

My eye twitched. Did they think I didn't realize this? I'd have to work them to their deaths when everything was back to normal. "I know!" I snapped back, and I could hear some slaps and punches being thrown. "Quit it!" I yelled a bit too loud, then lowered my voice, "I need to find a way off this ship without drowning, or getting eaten by the gyorgs." I surveyed the waters. I could see a couple small islands coming up ahead. At first I thought I was just seeing things because of the dark, but as we got closer, I could make at the small dots of land.

"Miss…?"

"I've got an idea. If you continue to follow this ship, you should come across a few of the smaller islands we're going to pass by soon. I can swim to one of them, and then wait there." And with that, Gonzo was yelling orders in my place, giving everyone a job. Of course Zuko was left to spot the islands as they approached them. Zuko was always on lookout.

Well, since they obviously had their part covered, I should be getting on with mine. I placed the Pirate's Charm around my neck again. "I'll be going then." And with that, all the bustling noises coming from the stone quieted to nothing.

One of the tiny islands was closer now, and it was almost directly beside the ship. It would only take me a couple minutes to swim out to it if I left now. Either way, I'd be leaving. I didn't have anymore time. I could already hear the shouts of gerudo getting louder, and it wouldn't be long until they checked the deck.

I ran closer to the side, swinging my legs over the railing. It wouldn't be any short fall to the water, and I could tell this would be painful. It wouldn't help that the water was probably freezing. Oh well, if I survived the jump, I could survive the cold.

I took one last glance at the door that led below deck, 'May Nayru be with you, Link.' And with that, the wind was pressuring me, my hair flying around crazily as I fell. I closed my eyes, and felt the impact of the water come rushing over me. When you fall from that kind of height, water just doesn't feel like a liquid anymore. I'm sure that's all I need to say about that.

When I was submerged in water, I kicked rapidly, treading water as I resurfaced. I gasped for air, waiting to catch my breath before I actually started swimming. I was right. The water was cold. Not freezing, but cold enough. So instead of floating around until I become a popsicle, I began swimming in the direction of the tiny island. I have to say, I never thought I could hate the gerudos choice of clothing anymore, but I was definitely wrong. I thought walking was a pain in those damn pants, but I had been in for one hell of a surprise once swimming was involved. If I ever had a chance to sit down and discuss some things with those damn desert people, their fashion choice would be first on my list.

It took me a few minutes, as I predicted, but I finally pulled myself onto the piece of land. It wasn't really anything. Less than a dot in the middle of nowhere. The ground was covered in grass, and a few trees took up most of the space. When I pulled myself out of the water, I gasped from the cold air hitting my freezing wet body. I curled into a ball, trying to keep the heat in my body. It was cold, painfully so. My clothes were still soaking, and I sat there, praying I could be back under the warm blankets of my bed. But I couldn't, and so I'd just have to tough it out.

* * *

It felt like an eternity that stretch on and on into the darkness of the sea. But after that eternity was over, I could finally see something in the distance. It wasn't quite morning, but it was slowly getting there, and after eternity was over, so was the darkness. As the ship neared the spot of land I occupied, I thought about how this was probably the happiest time I've felt at seeing that ship in a long time.

The anchor lowered, and slowly but surely, the ship slowed almost to a stand still. At that moment, faces of the crew appeared over the railing of the ship, and they started to shout down to me.

"Miss! Miss Tetra!" They all shouted. Despite how tired I felt, I moved, and with a swift jump, clung to the rope of the anchor. I inched my way up, climbing steadily up the rope, closer to the deck. Once I climbed onto the deck, with a little help from the crew, their eyes began to look me up and down, taking in my new wardrobe.

"What? It was part of the plan." I snapped. But then guilt over came me. I really just needed a nap, was all.

"Miss, what happened?" Gonzo asked frantically.

"Why did Link stay behind?" Niko exclaimed.

"What's going on? Who did this?" They all continued to babble loudly, until they were interrupted by a yell. It had come from Nudge. Everything was silent. "Miss, you look like you could use a good rest. I will escort you to your room." Then he glared at the crew, "Alone."

Oh Nudge, I can't begin to express how much love I'm feeling for you right now. So Nudge escorted me to my room below deck. Not like I was fully awake on the way there.

* * *

When I woke up, I blinked my eyes rapidly. They felt sore, like someone had just tried prying them out of their sockets. I felt real shitty, and I tried to remember what was going on. When I tried to remember how I got to my room, I only could remember bits and parts of Nudge walking me here, and then me trying to change out of my wet clothes. When I peeked under the covers, it seemed I had failed at putting clean clothes on.

I sighed, letting my head fall back onto the pillow. My eyes popped open just as soon as I closed them. I rolled out of bed, stumbling to grab a shirt to pull on. After I managed that without tripping, I rummaged through my draws until I found a pair of shorts, hopping towards the door as I pulled them on.

My door banged into the wall as I slammed it open. Everyone poked their heads out the door of the kitchen. Good. That meant it was still morning if they were eating breakfast. I'd only slept for a few hours. As much as that thought was upsetting, I took it as a good thing. There was still someone I couldn't forget. Someone I'd left on an enemies ship.

Just to be sure, I asked how long I'd slept. They confirmed what I'd already assumed. Then I sat down with them, pushing off their persistent objections towards my less than perfect hours of sleep. I had to make sure they understood what kind of situation I'd left Link in.

After fully explaining what happened the night before, I allowed them to begin their endless bantering. All their words formed into one question. One that had been on my mind until I had recently thought up a solution. Very recently. Now it was my turn to talk. But before I could, Nudge beat me to the punch line.

"That should be obvious. The only right thing we can do is barge into their ship, and take back our fellow crew-mate! Show them that the one in control of these seas are not them." This is why I would confide in Nudge before anyone else. Out of all my crew, he understands me best, like he knows my heart and soul. Why, if he wasn't a man, I'd say he was a long lost sister.

The crew all looked at me. For confirmation. I crossed my arms, a stern look masking my face as I looked over all of them. Then, my usual smirk spreading across my face, my trademark wink appearing, and I nodded. That was all they needed before cheers erupted from them all, along with the noise of clinking glasses together. I banged my hands down on the table as I stood, causing them all to fall into silence.

"If were going to succeed in this crazy rescue mission, we'll need to start moving now. We're going to need to ambush them when they're least expecting it. We'll take them down when they turn their backs. We have to be fast, but we need to time it right." My intense gaze circled around to all of them over and over, "Clean up and get dressed! Meet me up at the deck in ten minutes. I'll give you the order when we're all assembled. Got that?"

"Yes, Miss!" They shouted simultaneously, and scurried off, tripping over each other in the process of leaving the room. My hand made contact with my forehead, and I shook my head at their stupidity. My smile, I'm sure, showed my undeniable love for my crew of idiots. Embarrassing, and unable to hide, it was my own stupidity that I felt affection for those monkeys. 'Oh well,' I thought with a sigh, shrugging it off and headed back to my room. It was time to clean up a bit, and then head to work.

I would make sure Link was brought back to this ship safely. If not, something told me the crew, and maybe even I, wouldn't be able to handle the loss.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Well, this was a little longer than usually. Next chapter will be focused around Link. And a very special gerudo. =P

Anywho, I'd just like to let you all know that no matter how long it takes me to get a chapter up, I will continue this story until the end. I'm sorry if the wait is irritating, so I will try to do better from now on. But I will make sure it never takes me half a year just to get one chapter up. Although I've been even busier with school lately, so if any other chapters have these long delay again, rest assured that they will be posted. Eventually. *Shifty eyes*


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes**: Here's the sixth chapter of TNATF. This chapter will be in Link's perspective.

Enjoy! ^^

Rating: T

Warnings: Fighting/violence

"…" Talking

'…' Thinking

_Italics _Dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

**Bold** Usually someone thinking during dreams, visions, future events, or past events.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea to write this and my words.

* * *

**The Now and The Future**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Making New Friends**

* * *

_The night before…_

As I watched Tetra leave, the darkness enclosing around her, I felt a deep, straining worry gnawing on my insides. But it was too late to change plans now. So I glanced down at the gerudo, covered only by a blanket, and felt pity for her. If they hadn't kidnapped us, intentionally hurt Tetra, and possibly planned to kill us if we didn't give them whatever they wanted, I would feel immense grief over just the thought of hurting a gerudo. After all, they aren't monsters. And I can honestly say they don't look like monsters either. Putting aside all the resemblance to Ganondorf, most gerudo I'd seen could be considered pretty, if not beautiful. I knelt down at the side of the poor, unconscious gerudo, and wondered if she'd stay that way, or if she'd awake soon.

Staring at her face, I felt an acute pang of regret. Yes, it was true that they are not human, nor hylian. But that didn't make them monsters. If I called them a race of monsters just because they weren't one of the closer races to humans, then I'd also be saying the Rito and the koroks are monsters, and that would definitely be incorrect.

Sighing loudly a moved back to lean against the bars of my cell, no longer on the inside of it. I would wait until more gerudo came, and they would, hopefully, take me to the captain. I would get some answers, and maybe see why the young gerudo girl looked so bothered when speaking of her captain. I'd see for myself how terrible this captain really is.

It was a nice amount of time before they finally had more guards come down to check on us. Or now, only me. I'd say it was at least a half-hour before two more guards came tiptoeing down the stairs. At first, they were shocked at the sight of their fellow sister bare and unconscious, were as I casually leaned against the cell bars, cold metal supporting my back as I glanced at them. I'm sure my expression glowed with nothing other than boredom, which came from doing nothing but wait for a long period of time. During my wait, the unconscious gerudo had begun stirring, but never woke. One gerudo disappeared, and I soon realized that the gerudo were faster than I thought, but I didn't fight as she leaped at me. With such speed, she had me on my back, and locked in her hold, hissing in my ear, "Where's the girl?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other gerudo run to check on her unconscious sister. After checking her pulse quickly, she sighed in relief, "She's alive."

The gerudo above me must have made some sort of gesture to leave, because the guard grabbed her sister and left. After that she went back to hissing in my ear, "Answer the question!"

I scoffed, "Where is she? Long gone by now, that's for sure." I grunted as the gerudo grabbed a handful of my blond tresses, twisting my head to the side painfully.

"Stop being a Stinger." She glared, tugging on my hair harder, "I guess that just means you'll be meeting with the captain alone." And with that, we were on our feet. In the time she had me down, she'd managed to tie my wrists together with a semi-thick rope. Now she pulled me along by my hair and wrists. For a moment, I wondered if hair tugging was something they taught gerudo during training.

* * *

As we approached the door to what I assumed was the captain's quarters, I overheard a gerudo scolding other guards in the doorway of the next room over. I could see inside, and it looked to me like a big old storage room.

"How could you let someone get away with the prisoners' weapons?" The shout caused a look of discomfort to show on the guards' faces.

One stepped up to defend the others, "She was fast. We didn't even have time to catch her once she was already out the door."

"That's why you're supposed to be faster!" Her voice quieted as we approached, and she sneered.

"I'll deal with you all later." And with that, she followed us into the captain's quarters. Leaving a few very disheartened guards behind.

The room was relatively normal, beside the throne-like seat in the very back of the room, and an odd looking drain in front of the seat. Sitting in the chair was the gerudo I assumed was their captain. She had a nasty look in her eye, had many more noticeable scars than any other gerudo, and reminded me of Ganondorf more than any other. Those facts were the only things that made her different to the others standing in the room.

Speaking of which, there were quite a few gerudo standing around the walls of the area. They didn't look just like a few guards. Most likely, they were here because they were higher in the ranks. As the captain stood, the gerudo behind us pushed past me to take her place beside her leader. I took note that on the other side of the captain stood the young gerudo girl from before. She looked displeased at having to stand there, and I didn't blame her. My question is, why does she have to take her place at the side of the captain? Obviously, she had to be related somehow. But I'd seen that in her face before. I'd seen the disgust at even the thought. So why?

As much as I'd like to stand here and ponder, I realized I was staring too intently at her, and everyone else had realized this as well. With a rough shove, I was down on my knees, the metal grate on the ground digging through the fabric of my tights, and indenting its shape into my skin. I look up just in time to receive a hard, backhanded slap to my face. Wincing as my head was forcefully snapped to the right by the hit to my left cheek, I glared at the ground as her voice entered through my ears.

"Take your eyes off my underlings. Men, specifically trash like you, are not allowed to have eyes on her." She spoke out vehemently. I turned my glare towards her, anger boiling up.

"What in the-" I was silenced with a swift kick to the stomach that sent me spiraling down onto my back. I tried to catch my breath, knowing now not to even consider looking up. If I did, it would only make her angrier, and then I'd never get answers.

"You're in no position to talk back, boy." She spat, leaning over me. "You're here because we want information that you have. Where's our king?" I had a nice little comment about her so-called king, but I made sure to swallow my insults for a later date.

"He's dead." I said, which isn't exactly true. Sure, I stabbed the master sword through his head, but if at any time someone decided to go scuba diving and found him, he could be freed once the sword was pulled out. Although that would be near impossible, since everything left under the Great Sea was destroyed upon the wish the King of Hyrule made to the goddesses. So, he might as well be dead.

As I said those two words, a few gerudo gasped, others just scoffed. As for the captain, well, she decided to make my right cheek match the left. Great, now my entire face was stinging. The slap had sent an odd shock throughout my entire head, like when you hit your funny bone. You know, that nerve above your elbow? I used to do that a lot, so I should know. I took a second to glance at the gerudo girl. She still stood in the same spot, but her face showed her amusement. From my pain, from the news of her 'king', or from her captain's anger, I could not tell. I figured it was the former. The captain's hand gripped my chin in a hard hold, forcing me to look at her.

"Don't joke with me. If our king is dead, then why hasn't another male gerudo been born?" My eyebrows rose high on my forehead. I _really _didn't want to know just exactly how they reproduced, anyway. I hoped it was the normal way, but then I cringed at the thought of how exactly normal it could be if only females roamed the ship. Yeah, I don't want to know. So instead of asking, I just shook my head.

"Maybe he hasn't been born because you've been spending all your time at sea. But, oh wait, your king is to blame for that." The gerudo's eyes took on a murderous look that was quickly masked over. So fast that I almost thought I imagined it. Then, with a smirk, she reached for her sword. I was sure she wouldn't kill me, but who really knew what she had planned. As she unsheathed her blade, she placed the cool, sharp edge against my slowly healing, open cut. The same one Tetra's blade had made during our little match. She dragged the tip of her sword along the wound, causing me to cringe back. With her free hand, she grabbed locks of my hair, forcing me to stay in place. What's with all the hair tugging? I mean, seriously! As the metal met the end of the laceration, at the tip of my left shoulder, she began to dig her sword slowly into my cut. My eyes widened, and I had to swallow the gasp of pain that rose to my throat.

"Stop!" All heads turned towards the gerudo girl. Even she looked shocked at her frantic shout. "I just…well, I mean, what if he's telling the truth? Maybe the male gerudo was already born on another ship." My eyes widened, but surprisingly, the captain reacted much more calmly to her interruption than I thought she would.

"Impossible. We would have gotten word of it by now."

"Then maybe we just haven't been blessed with a new king yet. It hasn't been that long since the last went missing." The captain seemed to take this in, and sincerely consider the possibility.

"It's possible, but we need to know the truth. And if it's true, that he's passed on, we must look to avenge him."

I could see the clocks turning in the gerudo girl's head, her brow furrowed slightly, "He may have been our king, but why seek revenge when this is how things worked for so long? He had, after all, lived far past his time." From my viewpoint, I could see the captain's anger flair at this comment, so the gerudo girl continued, "The era has come when we shall receive a new king to rule our people." Then, the captain seemed to stop, to really consider this.

"Then we shall wait. We shall wait and see if a new king is born. And while we wait, we keep him locked up." If I thought she was crazy before, this is a whole new level. It could be years for all she knows.

It seemed that the gerudo girl's mind was right on track with mine, since she said quickly, "We can't do that! It could be years until we even receive a notice."

"Then so be it. We'll wait a set period of time, and if we still don't hear from any of the ships, we will continue from there. At that time, whether he tells the truth or not, we shall kill him." Oh holy goddesses, I know I've sinned in the past, but have they really accounted for this? This woman was insane. Am I really going to die this way? There was so many other times I could have been offed, so why now, if not then?

The gerudo girl frowned, but didn't object. The captain turned back to me, spitting out her words venomously, "I will speak with you again." Then her eyes shifted as she spoke to the guard who had brought me, "Take him back. And make sure he's tied up good when you do so."

The guard nodded, stepping up to fetch me. I couldn't help one last glance at the gerudo girl as I was forced out of the room. Her face showed clear determination. Of what, I had no idea.

* * *

After the long trip back to the cellar, she threw me against the bars of my cell, and I groaned as she held me in place with her foot on my back. She began tightening the ropes that tied my hands. Painfully, too. I knew my wrists would be raw from rope burn. Once she was finished, she practically flung me into the cell, locking it. Glaring at me coldly, she turned and disappeared into the dark stairwell.

For many hours, I sat. Just sat, staring at the wall, lost in thought. Now that I knew I was going to die, I couldn't help but thinking about some thing I never really thought of until now. Like how close I wanted to be to Tetra. I would never be that close, not now. And how I should have really told the crew how much I cared about them, like a second family. But I wouldn't see them again.

Other things, too. Like how I regret not being of any help in the search for the New Hyrule. And even how I wouldn't be able to investigate further why that gerudo girl intrigued me. Something about her pulled me, like it was a fate set by the goddesses that we would meet. But I wouldn't really understand now.

Sometime around those thoughts, I heard a noise. Just a small one. Low enough that I could have imagined it, but then a figure stepped out of darkness of the stairwell, and into the dimly lit cellar. 'Speak of the evil lord,' I thought.

It was the gerudo girl. My eyes widened as she stepped closer to my cell.

"Hello." She said quietly, sounding as if she wasn't really sure what to say.

"Hi," I said a little more friendly, still not having decided if she was as bad as the rest of the gerudo I'd met, "what brings you here to my lonely little cell?" I ask quietly, but I smile a small smile for her.

"I…uh," I felt my eyebrows rise at her wonderful sentence. Embarrassed, she tried again, "I thought I'd clean your cuts." She said, "But not because I'm worried. I just really don't want to look at some ugly, infected scars next time you're present in front of the

Captain." I smiled at her tone. Despite what she said, it seemed like she cared, and I was good with that.

"Well, I wouldn't want to make you look at an ugly, infected scar, would I?" She huffed, and proceeded to unlock the cell. Quietly, she opened the door, slipping inside. Cautiously, she stepped closer.

"Don't worry. I won't try anything." I assured. She didn't relax exactly, but it calmed her a bit. She made her way over, sitting down in front of me. I'm sure it was hard for her to see much in the dull lighting, but she seemed to manage just fine. Lightly grabbing a hold of my chin, she examined my face. I swear, it must still be red. It sure felt sore. She picked up a cloth. In the dark, I could just barely see the dampness, and something it was wrapped around. Lightly, she pressed it to my right cheek, and I hissed. I don't know how they had ice all the way out here, but it was freezing, and it stung at first. After a few short moments, it began to numb my pain, and felt good against my heated face.

"Hold this." She said quickly, and my hand took her place to keep it in place. Grabbing something else she'd brought with her, she tilted my head to look at my left cheek. Examining it for a moment, she lifted the other cloth, that I now knew was damp with warm water, and began to roughly scrub my cheek. I winced, and her vigorous scrubbing eased slightly. "You know you have dried blood all over your face. Did you not notice?" I shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. Really, I hadn't, but what could I have done about it even if I had?

After several more minutes, my skin was raw, and she seemed satisfied. Grabbing a bottle now, she opened it. Tipping it over, a gooey substance poured onto the tips of her fingers. Moving, she rubbed the cool salve on my cheek. I gagged at the smell, and she laughed quietly. I glanced at her in surprise, but then smiled. I decided I liked it when she laughed. It was better than her scowling all the time. As she continued to apply the gross gunk on my face, she spoke.

"It may smell bad, but that's only because it's the blood from a Leever." I swallowed another gag. I had no idea what that was, but it didn't sound good. "You probably have never seen one, because they aren't common monsters like Bokoblins anymore. After all, most of them were wiped out when Hyrule flooded. But some of them still live in very secluded areas. Back when my race lived in the deserts, where Levers spent most of their time in the sand, we used their blood ever since we learned that it had some small healing properties." It sounded like she knew quite a bit about her people when they lived in the old Hyrule. Though, I guess being part of a close-knit race like the gerudo, she would have learned some way or another.

After she was done fitting some sort of gauze onto my left cheek, she moved to take off the ice on my right. Looking over once, twice, and then a third time, she nodded, "It looks a bit better. The swelling isn't as bad." Swelling? I must be in worse shape than I thought.

Again, another comfortable silence followed as she then began working on the wound that decorated my shoulder. She seemed to spend some extra time on cleaning up the spot where the captain's blade had dug in. Soon though, she was done with that as well.

"I remember she kicked you. Where?" I sighed, clearly remembering the swift kick that captain had landed on me. My eyes shifting towards my stomach as she followed my gaze, I wondered if she was going to pull out a couple potions as well. It seemed like she had everything so far.

She grabbed the end of my somewhat torn tunic, looking back up, "May I?" She asked. I could feel my already swelling and red cheeks heat, along with my ears to match, but I nodded.

Lifting my tunic up to get a good look at my stomach, she seemed just as embarrassed as I was. As she pulled the fabric higher, she sucked in a breath, clucking her tongue in shame, "She did a number on you."

"It sure felt like it." I mumbled, and she glanced up, a small smile lifting the corner of her lips. Oh, wait, maybe that was a smirk. Some things about her kept reminding me of Tetra. I think if we weren't in these terrible circumstances, they'd be good friends.

"Well, there isn't much a can do for your stomach, unless I can get my hands on a potion, and I sadly have no resources for those at the moment." She said, as if it was final, and dropped my tunic so it could flutter back down, covering my stomach once more.

"I'm disappointed. Seeing all the things you've pulled out so far, I figured you had everything." I said with a light tone, and she rolled her eyes. Again. I noticed she liked doing that a lot. Yeah, it seemed she had some small quirks in common with Tetra.

"Yeah, well, sorry kid. I don't." My eye twitched, and she seemed to notice, "Something wrong?"

"Yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"What's with calling me 'kid' all the time?"

"Because you are one."

"But so are you."

"I don't think that's the point."

"Well, that's _my_ point!"

Thus began a five-minute long bickering session between us, and finally, she sighed in irritation.

"Whatever. It's just a habit a picked up from my sisters. If you don't like it, I won't call you kid." I blinked. I hadn't expected her to give up on it so easily.

"I don't like it."

"Then I won't call you it."

"O…kay." I stuttered, surprised.

"Okay." She said more firmly. She ignored the fact that I was watching her with probably some really creepy look as I tried to figure out if there was some sort of catch. I didn't seem to find anything suspicious in her expression, which I found odd, and I had to ask now.

"You seemed so cold and mean before. Why are you being nice now?" I asked. It seemed as if her personality had completely changed.

"I didn't trust you before." She said simply.

"And you trust me now?" I asked her with an eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"No. Not at all." She seemed to leave her sentence hanging for a moment, before saying, "Well, maybe just enough that I know you won't try to cut my throat and make a run for it." The comment filled me with a twinge of joy, and I was just about to give her a smile when she continued, "But that's only because you're so naïve!" I sighed. She just had to ruin it, didn't she? "And I'm not being nice either! I'm just doing this because I don't want our only prisoner making our cells all nasty with his blood and whatnot!" Now she seemed like she was getting rather defensive, and I felt the urge to smack my forehead. That is, if I had a free hand to do so. I decided I'd just have to give up on this for another time.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Surprisingly, considering the way our conversation had drifted off, it wasn't an awkward silence. It was rather comforting, just sitting there with someone. But maybe the quiet felt comfortable to me because I was spacing off a bit. Glancing up from the rip in my tights I'd been staring at, I peeked at her face from under my heavy blond bangs. She didn't seem that bothered either. It looked almost as if she was spacing out as well. I cleared my throat, and she jumped a bit, her eyes sliding over to meet mine as I tilted my head up so my hair wasn't blocking so much of my vision. When our eyes made contact, she looked away almost immediately.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go. It's getting late, and I'm sure I'll be thrown into a cage of wolfos if I'm caught." I was a bit surprised by her sudden pre-goodbye speech, and she continued on as I watched her stand, "I'll come back to check on you tomorrow night, all right? Don't do anything stupid." And before I could respond, she was out of the cell, locking the door. Just as she made her way to the stairs, lifting her foot, I realized I hadn't even given her my thanks.

"H-hey! Thank you for…you know." I said a bit awkwardly, fiddling my thumbs behind me, where they were tied up with the rest of my hands.

She stared at the step her foot had just been placed on as she paused. Not looking back, she finally said, "Y-yeah…" And with that, took off into the darkness of the stairwell. It reminded me of Tetra, the way she left. But at the same time, it was totally different. I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, they were two totally different people. On that thought, and I have no idea why, a small smile stretched across my lips. She may not be Tetra, but she was someone interesting for sure.

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

Okay, that's it! Review and tell me what you think! I don't mind if you're harsh about it.

Also, that thing about the Leevers. There's a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that it's not true, but I felt like adding it in, so…meh. *Shrugs* (I seem to really like adding those creatures into my stories some way or another. O.o)

For some reason, this is really turning into a love triangle(I know one of my lovely reviewers actually mentioned something about this. Must have been psychic, or something… ;P). The funny part about this is that I'm usually not one for love triangles, but it keeps seeming to lead down that path in my mind. Well, I guess we'll see how it goes.

So review or I will be forced to smear smelly Leever blood on you! *Cackles manically*

But no, really, reviews are loved.


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